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Defence Procurement

Perhaps not, but the purpose of the debate is to find out answers to some of these important questions. It is great to see BAE Systems recruiting 1,000 people this year and 1,000 next year of the right skills mix, but those people want to know whether they have a long-term future in the industry and they want answers to these questions, particularly against a background of press reports. A final assembly and check-out facility has been agreed for joint strike fighter with the Italians, when the Government said in the Rand Europe report that they were considering it. Again, they have gone quiet on that. As for conventional aircraft, perhaps the Minister could say something about the state of play for Nimrod. The Government announced about a year ago that they were talking about purchasing up to 12 MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft. Certainly, test flying has shown that its capability is much admired, not just in this country but by competitors. However, the Government are vacillating over the three prototype aircraft, notwithstanding the nine that I hope they will buy. The Minister should bear in mind the growing importance of long-range maritime patrol and land-based patrol aircraft. The Nimrod is an ideal solution to both those challenges, and it would be useful to know precisely the Government's position on these matters. The Minister glossed over the question of unmanned air vehicles. He seemed surprised when I asked him about the operational capabilities of the HERTI aircraft, which has been deployed in Afghanistan. The Government have, in fairness, provided some £50 million for a demonstrator project from BAE Systems—the Taranis project. I am delighted to hear that, but it would be helpful to know from the Minister some more about the time scale for that project, and whether the demonstrator will lead to more interest in different types of unmanned air vehicles. Without doubt, when one comes to look to the future, it will be important to strike the right balance between manned and unmanned air vehicles in facing the threats before us. I started by talking about what was happening in the Russian aerospace industry. One of the concerning points in the defence industrial strategy was a clear statement that for the foreseeable future—the next 20 or 30 years—the United Kingdom Government could not see their way to being involved in any more fast jet project development. Given that competitors are now enhancing their technological capability, perhaps the Minister can say whether the Government plan to review that very definite statement in order to make certain that we do not fall behind in our technological capability. My hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) mentioned the lack of specificity by the Government about the sovereign technologies that we need. The reason why we are involved in joint strike fighter is that short take-off and vertical landing capability and our manufacturing capability were the jewels in the aerospace crown that were put on the joint strike fighter table. If we are not involved in major projects in the future, the United Kingdom will develop its technologies, but on a jobbing shop basis. We will no longer be absolutely at the forefront of technological and material development. I should like to hear some reassurance from the Minister that the Government regard in the same way as they do our nuclear capability, our shipbuilding capability and our encryption capability, the capability to be at the forefront of aviation technology. Without those skills, given the importance of air power to meet a range of threats, we will flip backwards and become dependent on other people's technology at a time when we need sovereign capability.