Manufacturing

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Defence – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 21 June 2004.

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Photo of Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence 2:30, 21 June 2004

In February last year we reached an important agreement with BAE Systems on Nimrod—a contract amendment that put Nimrod MRA4 on a much sounder footing for the future. Under the restructured contract, design and development and production have been separated as far as possible to ensure that technology is adequately de-risked before making any further commitment to production, price and schedule. The MOD has been approving low-risk production activities when it makes sense to do so and when such activities help to maintain essential skills and product knowledge, as well as preserve the schedule. There is still work to be done before I can satisfy my hon. Friend, but I assure her that we are committed to the Nimrod project, which is important for industry in the United Kingdom and crucial in terms of the capabilities that it will offer our armed forces.