To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money was invested in the Remote Influence Minesweeping System before the project was cancelled in April 2002; why the project was cancelled; and if he will make a statement. [99802]

Expenditure on the Remote Influence Minesweeping System amounted to some £2.7 million at out-turn prices. The investment afforded us valuable insights which will be exploited in the future.The decision to discontinue the project was taken as part of the normal departmental planning process. The same process has freed up resources for a programme of incremental technology insertion which will enhance the Royal Navy's mine countermeasures capabilities from the middle of the present decade and will include, early in the next decade, a remote capability.