Archive

1984 Mar 2 - 1984 Dec 31
Prime Ministerial Private Office files

PREM19/1186
Defence (Defence sales) (Part 4)

Document type: File list item
Source: TNA, PREM19 series
Release date: 2014 Jan 3
Classification: Confidential
Page count: 454
Any docs withheld? 2

PREM19/1186 - download whole file (PDF, 81.35 MB)

Selections from this file

Showing items 21 - 40 of 51

Per page:
Date Value Title
84 Jul 26 Thu Defence: Richard Luce letter to Heseltine ("Libya: current Defence sales business") ["Marconi's contract for the sale to Libya of Martello Surveillance Radar... undertakings from France and Italy that they would not supply if we were to cancel the contract... inconclusive... [I] consider that we should place no further impediment in the way of this sale"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Aug 1 Wed Defence: Rees minute to MT ("ECDG cover for Pakistan") [Treasury case against OD committee proposal of credit cover for sale of frigates: "on an exceptional basis and without prejudice to the Government's general policy of reducing ECGD's exposure in countries whose creditworthiness was in doubt"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Aug 6 Mon Defence: Heseltine letter to Tebbit ("Frigates for Pakistan") ["to seek your agreement to a way forward that would allow... [MT] to write in positive terms in reply to President Zia's most recent letter... it seems clear that the only way... would be for ECGD to provide increased indemnity"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Aug 21 Tue Defence: Chancellor of the Exchequer minute to MT ("Tornados for Turkey") ["I do not think [Tebbit's proposed] course could be justified in terms of our policy of limiting ECGD's exposure in the most risky markets or in the light of ECGD's own precarious financial position... Recent developments in Turkey confirm the need for a cautious approach"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Aug 29 Wed Defence: MT letter to President of the Society of British Aerospace Companies Ltd (sale of Tornado aircraft to Turkey) ["in terms of our risk exposure... It will need careful consideration to determine where the balance of national advantage lies"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Aug 30 Thu Defence: Heseltine minute to MT ("Quarterly Report on Defence Sales and Prospects 1st April - 30th June 1984") ["disappointing... with sales in the first half of 1984 now some 18 percent less in cash terms than for the same period in 1983"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Sep 4 Tue Defence: Heseltine letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer ("Mobile Subscriber Equipment") [problems Plessey face in bidding for US Army battlefield communications system ... "The potential size of the contract is enormous ... an MOD scheme, as proposed by Plessey, under which we would agree to buy from them, at predetermined rates, all the dollars they received under the contract"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Sep 26 Wed Defence: Tebbit minute to MT ("Tornados for Turkey") [export credit support: arguments for and against HMG support] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Sep 27 Thu Defence: Heseltine PS letter to No.10 ("Frigates to Pakistan") [draft MT reply to President Zia-ul-Haq; "there have been long consultations... in an attempt to make an improved credit offer without increasing ECGD's commitment"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Sep 30 Sun Defence: MT letter to President Zia-ul-Haq (sale of Type 21 Frigates to Pakistan) [contract negotiations; Memorandum of Understanding] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Oct 3 Wed Defence: Tebbit PS letter to No.10 ("Hawk Order") [press release: "an American gloss on what has properly in this country been represented as a considerable British achievement"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Oct 15 Mon Defence: Channon minute to MT ("ECGD cover: Turkey and Pakistan") ["I would hope that we could review the whole position of cover in cases like this at the OD meeting on 22 October so that we do not lose other good potential business"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Oct 19 Fri Defence: Cabinet Office briefing for MT ("OD: Tornados for Turkey") [export credit support proposals: "dramatic increase in both the total contract value of the order... and the resulting... [UK] credit exposure"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Oct 31 Wed Defence: Cabinet Office briefing for MT ("Tornados for Turkey") ["whether the revised BAe proposals are acceptable and what the division of credit exposure should be between public and private sector sources"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 2 Fri Defence: Cabinet Office minute to No.10 ("Attribution in Cabinet and Cabinet Committee minutes") [Lawson query regarding individual attributions in minutes of OD meeting on sale of Tornado to Turkey] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 9 Fri Defence: MT letter to King Fahd (sale of Tornado and Hawk aircraft to Saudi Arabia) ["I trust that the final negotiations... may now proceed... As a mark of my desire to bring this message directly to Your Majesty's attention, I have asked Michael Heseltine to bring it in person"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 12 Mon Defence: Adam Butler PS letter to No.10 ("Overhaul Contract for Phantom Engines") [MT approves awarding the contract to Greece following resolution of the question over sale of Tornado to Turkey] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 19 Mon Defence: Heseltine minute to MT ("Sale of Tornado and Hawk to Saudi Arabia") [report on visit to Saudi Arabia/talks with King Fahd & Prince Sultan; criticism of Saudi royal family in British press; "I do not believe that the deal is necessarily lost, but I am not optimistic about the outcome"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 21 Wed Defence: MT letter to President of the Society of British Aerospace Companies Ltd (sale of Tornado to Turkey) [credit support: "we have concluded that the financial risks for the Government are unacceptably high"] [declassified Jan 2014]
84 Nov 21 Wed Defence: MT letter to Chairman of British Aerospace PLC (sale of Tornado to Turkey) [credit support: "the financial risks for the Government... are unacceptably high"] [declassified Jan 2014]