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account for about 15 per cent of the money to be spent on
research and development in 1975-76.
9.
Collaborative development is possible only when the defence
equipment needs of two or more nations run in parallel. The aim must be
to identify these needs so far in advance that national planning
can evolve on a collaborative basis. To that end, the United
Kingdom is an active member of all the Allied organisations
which seek to promote equipment collaboration and maintains
numerous direct bilateral and multilateral relationships for
this purpose with our NATO and Commonwealth partners. The effort
to reconcile different. military, economic and industrial require-
ments and timescales is substantial, and for the most part
tangible results on further projects are more likely to appear
in the 1980s and 1990s than in this decade.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES 1975-76
10. The management of the development programmes is the respon-
sibility of the appropriate Systems Controller in the Procurement
Executive the Controller of the Navy, the Master-General of
the Ordnance, or the Controller of Aircraft. The principal
projects now in progress are set out in the following sections.
AIRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT WEAPONS
The Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA)
11.
The strike/attack/reconnaissance version of the MRCA has
high priority in the aircraft programme. The swing-wing design
will give the aircraft great operational flexibility. Its
advanced electronic equipment will enable it to deliver weapons
VII-4
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