To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his statement of 27 October 1992, Official Report, column 858, when he expects to make an announcement regarding a possible future replacement for the WE177.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 20 May 1993 Official Report, column 263.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what actions have been taken by his Department following paragraph 12 of the Statement on the Defence Estimates 1989 to ensure that the WE177 will remain serviceable well into the first decade of the next century.

We maintain a continuing monitoring programme of our stockpile of WE177 free fall bombs to assess their remaining life. Based on this, we now expect that the WE177 will remain safe and serviceable well into the first decade of the next century.