To ask the Secretary of Defence, pursuant to his answer of 31 January, Official Report, column 730, if he will give the reasons why quantitative assessments of changes in capability of selected Royal Air Force units have not been undertaken.

Ground forces in Europe are scheduled to undergo extensive change over the coming decade. The assessments of the relative capabilities of British Army units arose from an examination of the implications of these plans for the balance of forces in Europe. Forecast changes in the structure of air forces are less extensive and have not been assessed in the same depth.