Good morning Green Knight,
This issue has been discussed on a different thread.
Lord West of Spithead (retired First Sea Lord) sought clarification of the statement made by Dr Laim Fox, namely the clear implication that BOTH carriers were to be modified.
All I can say in the defence of Liam Fox is that there will be two catapults which allows the plural wording for cats and clearly there will be more than one arrester wire which also allows the use of the plural, BUT the wording to me is quite clear!
TWO CARRIERS
Sadly that is NOT the case and when asked to clarify this situation here is the exact reply:
Lord Astor of Hever (Conservative)
My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord that this is a very complicated issue which will take a lot of study. I am very happy to organise further briefings for noble Lords if they would like on any particular issue, be it on the reserves or basing or anything else. I am grateful that the noble Lord supports the increase in spending, albeit of 1 per cent, which will enable us to do quite a lot. I can confirm that the cats and traps will be for one carrier-at the moment, we do not know which one it is. Whether to equip the other carrier with them will be a decision for the 2015
SDSR.
Lord Astor is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence and this is the
transcript of the discussion regarding Dr Lam Fox's notification.