§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been allocated by his Department for the Eurofighter Typhoon; how much he expects this programme to cost; and when he will make a full financial commitment. [119185]
§ Mr. IngramFunding is allocated for in-year expenditure only. Provision for future years' expenditure is made in the annually revised Equipment Plan. In the case of Typhoon, the allocation for equipment acquisition for 2003–2004 is £1,158 million. We currently estimate that the total procurement cost of Typhoon will be £19.7 billion. Typhoon is planned to be procured in three tranches. The first tranche is already on order and in production. We plan to place orders for the second and third tranches of aircraft in 2003 and 2007 respectively.