HC Deb 31 March 2004 vol 419 c1480W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which private sector companies are training Army personnel to use Bowman radios; and what the value of the contract is. [162840]

Mr. Ingram

As prime contractor for the Bowman tactical communication system, General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd. has sub-contracted the conversion training of around 75,000 personnel from all three services to Westland Helicopters Ltd. Training delivery and distributed learning is led by Westland and supported by Outstart and Vosper Thornycroft UK Ltd. Conversion training began on time in July 2003 and, to date, almost 3,500 personnel have completed their individual training.

The prime contract with General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd. was awarded competitively. I am withholding details about the value of the contract under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

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