asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they accept the view of the Society of British Aerospace Companies that the Ministry of Defence's published R&D expenditure figures are overstated by £1.2bn, and whether all MoD development contract work with aerospace companies is true R&D.

The amount said to be spent by the MoD on research and development depends upon the definition, and there is room for more than one respectable view. Having said that, we certainly do not accept that defence R&D is overstated by £1.2bn as suggested.