ANNEX B bo ACDS(Pol) 74/225 DADED 8. AUFust 1974(Concluded)
readily available or so suited to the task. VC 10 aircraft
would need to refuel twice on the Eastabout route once in the Near East (e.g. Cyprus) and once in the area of India of the Indian Ocean, (e,g, Gan or Diego Garcia). To carry
worthwhile loads Hercules and Belfast aircraft would need additional intermediate staging posts. Currently they use Masirah and Singapore. However it has already been decided
to dispense with the facilities in Singapore. The Westabout route is 60% longer than the Eastabout route and experience has shown that diplomatic clearance can be uncertain. Although the first element of a battalion might reach Hong Kong in four days by this route the battalion move would not be completed until a further five days (compared with under four days for the Eastabout route). The cost of maintaining the staging posta at Cyprus, Masirah, Gan and Singapore is 837.
This exceeds
M
the cost of maintaining the extra unit in the colony by (assessed on a British Unit). If the Eastabout military route was dispensed with, routine air trooping would have to be carried out by charter aircraft and would depend on diplomatic clearance.
4. Not all the costs of maintaining a garrison in Hong Kong could be attributed fairly to the local government. The cost of the DON and the intelligence gathering facilities (“___*H),
and the
should for instance continue to
be borne by the United Kingdom. The Hong Kong Government should
therefore be invited to contribute a high proportion of the
£
remaining 2 M.
B
2
SECRET