HKK 10/9
SECRET
Hong Kong Department,
(10)
18 February, 1969
в
Cohail to HKK10/1
Under cover of his letter HWB 10/9 of 19 July, 1968, Heath Mason sent you a copy of the study on the feasibility of maintaining a small Hunter fighter force in Hong Kong, which had been carried out by the Air Force Department of the Ministry of Defence. He mentioned in his letter that the Chiefs of Staff, whan approving in June 1968 the conclusions reached in the study, had given instructions that the Commander-in-Chief, Far Fast, should curry out a further and more detailed examination of the matter to determine a precise breakdown of responsibilities as between the k.A.F., the Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force and the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Corporation in muintaining and operating the proposed fighter force.
2. This latter exercise was carried out in consultation with your Defence Secretary, the staff of the Commander British Forces, Hong Kong, the officer Commanding, R.A.P. Kai Tak and the General Manager of the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Corporation.
It was completed in September 1968. You will recall that it considered two alternative schemes (A) and (B) and that it recommended the adoption of scheme (B), which made minimal use of backin by the Auxiliary Air Force. In putting forward his report the C. in C. Far East mentioned that both you and CBF supported the adoption of scheme (B).
3. The above examination included the compilation of estimated comparative costs for the two schemes, but those estimates relatod only to local costs and the examination was intended to enable the Ministry of Defence to complete the exercise by working out in full the total estimated costs of operating the proposed fighter unit. This the Ministry of Defence have now done and I enclose a copy of the relevant extracts from their Report.
4. You will see that the total recurrent costs of scheme (B) have been estimated at £335,000 per annum. This figure represents the total annual operating costs, including all local costs, of a detachment of Five Hunters with three in reserve. Although there is no direct reference in the enclosure to this letter to the question of how lon the Hunter unit would be retained in Hong Kong, the Chiefs of Staff have previously stated that from the point of view of purely military and technical considerations, the unit might be sustained until about 1975, by which time the situation would have to be reviewed. (Paragraph 6 of the preliminary feasibility study atated that "where technical considerations are concerned the average Hunter mainplane fatigue life would enable the aircraft to continue in service until 1974/75.")
His Excellency
Sir David Trench, 000., MC.
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