§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications of(a) the Defence Spending Review and (b) the proposals set out in his oral statement on future capabilities for defence on 21 July for (i) the Typhoon project and (ii) the Apache project; and if he will make a statement. [1186668]
§ Mr. IngramAs my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence set out in his statement on 21 July 2004,Official Report, columns 343–70, Typhoon is an essential element of our plans to transform the armed forces for the 21st century. The aircraft is already 1308W demonstrating excellent performance in service and we intend to place the order for the second tranche as soon as negotiations on price and performance have been successfully completed.
The entry to service of the Attack helicopter represents an essential step in the Army's transition towards an increasingly manoeuvrist approach to warfare, and is thereore fully in line with the proposals in the Defence White Paper published in July, "Delivering Security in a Changing World". The Attack Helicopter will significantly improve our ability to engage land targets with precision and at range.