Written question asked by Matthew Offord (Conservative) on Monday, 30 November 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 December 2020. It was answered by Jeremy Quin (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 December 2020 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Seabed: Bomb Disposal

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the comparative cost is of using (a) the Deflagration system and (b) explosive destruction to disarm unexploded ordnance on the seabed.

Answer: While High Order charges are significantly more expensive than Low Order the cost of the charge itself represents a relatively small element of the overall cost of executing the mission. The employment of Deflagration systems and explosive destruction techniques for destruction or disarmament of unexploded ordnance are conducted by either a Royal Navy Mine Countermeasures Vessel or a Clearance Diving Unit. Both of these have comparable overheads representing the substantial proportion of the overall mission costs.

Secondary information