§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)I am pleased to inform the House that the contract for the Meteor air-to-air missile for the RAFs Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft was placed with MBDA on 23 December 2002. This followed the signature of the Meteor MOU by Germany, the last of the six partner nations (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK) to sign, which permitted the UK, as lead nation, to sign the contract with MBDA.
Meteor is a key element of the Government's commitment to provide the best possible equipment for the Armed Forces. It will ensure Typhoon has the capability to combat predicted air-to-air threats thereby meeting our requirement to maintain air superiority well into the future.
This is extremely good news for British and European industry, sustaining high quality jobs in new technology and in system and software design. Furthermore, it puts MBDA at the forefront of a strengthened European missile defence industry and enhances export prospects for Typhoon.
When my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 16 May 2000, Official Report, columns 149–51 the decision to select Meteor as the beyond visual range air-to-air missile to arm Typhoon, he agreed to publish the details of the breakpoints and 9WS determination of when theseassessments will be made, once the Memorandum of Understanding was established. Now that this has been achieved, I can confirm that the contract includes four breakpoints as follows:
- Demonstration of Ramjet Propulsion System (Boost to Sustain Motor Transition and Sustain Motor Operation)—at month 40 of the programme.
- Demonstration of Guidance and Control of the Asymmetric Airframe—at month 45 of the programme.
- Demonstration of the Effectiveness of Aircraft to Missile Transfer Alignment Process via Data Links—at month 45 of the programme.
- Demonstration of Electronic Protection Measures—at month 51 of the programme.
The process for the independent assessment of the achievement of the milestones, and for securing partner nation agreement that they have been either achieved or failed, is set out in the MOU, copies of which will shortly be placed in the Library of the House. If MBDA fail to achieve any of the milestones, partner nations will be able to terminate the contract and recover all monies paid.