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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) tanks, (b) artillery pieces, (c) RAF fighter aircraft, (d) frigates and destroyers and (e) infantry were in the possession of United Kingdom armed forces in (i) 1979, (ii) 1990 and (iii) 1997. [14067] Mr. Soames: [holding answer 4 February 1997]: Since 1979, the circumstances in which we envisage British armed forces being deployed have changed dramatically. In particular, with the end of the cold war, and the dissolution of the Warsaw pact, we have been able to reduce the size of the front line while spending a higher proportion of the defence budget on new equipment for the services to enhance significantly their military capabilities. Each of the three services has taken delivery of new, advanced equipment including the Challenger 2 tank, AS90 howitzer, the Duke class type 23 frigate and advanced air-to-air missiles. In addition, orders have been placed for military equipment including the Apache attack helicopter and amphibious ships which will further enhance the fighting capability and mobility of the armed forces. The Government are, of course, also committed to the procurement of the Eurofighter 2000 aircraft. Our forces are robustly configured to face the challenges of the post-cold war world and are the envy of their counterparts around the globe. The Government's forward procurement programme illustrates our commitment to ensuring that this remains the case. The figures requested by the hon. Gentleman, which are set out below, should be considered in this context. Details of Army equipment holdings are not available in the form requested of across the period concerned. The overall unit establishments for Regular armoured and field artillery regiments have therefore been given to indicate their required front-line strength in the designated years. The figures exclude equipment held by training and research establishments, in store as the war maintenance reserve or awaiting disposal. United Kingdom holdings of tanks, artillery, fighters, frigate and destroyers and infantry numbers, 1979 to 1997{1} _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Tanks{2} Artillery pieces{3} Fighters{4} Frigates and Infantry{5} destroyers 1979 640 282 126 69 45,600 1990 699 {6}298 157 48 46,900 1997 388 240 100 35 31,900 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Figures are for 1 April except for 1997, where they reflect the situation at 1 January. {2} Figures are for main battle tanks only and exclude armoured reconnaissance vehicles and armoured vehicles royal engineers. {3} Figures are for field artillery pieces only and exclude air defence artillery, anti-tank guided weapon systems and, in 1979 and 1990, Lance sub-strategic nuclear missile launchers. {4} Defined as those aircraft established in the air defence role, as indicated by statements on the Defence Estimates. {5} Figures include British and Gurkha soldiers but exclude Royal Marines, and troops of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service) battalions. Figures include soldier trainees. {6} Includes the unit establishments for both M107 self-propelled guns and MLRS which was replacing them.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

14067; 292 c917-8W

Session

1996-97

Subjects

Armed forces Defence equipment Military aircraft Warships Tanks Artillery Destroyers Frigates

Contains statistics

Yes