To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has received from his United States counterpart concerning the length of time required to modernise the Lance missile; and what assessment he has made.

[pursuant to his answer, 20 April 1989, c. 279]: The US Administration has kept allies fully informed about their development programme for a successor to the Lance missile. The selection by the US of a launcher at the end of last year was geared to having a new system available for deployment by the mid-1990s.