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14CAS. The Committee consisted of representatives from the operationaldirectorates (Strike, Maritime, Air Defence and Air Transport), fromACAS(OR)%u2019s parish, from DSigs(Air), often %u2018Dusty%u2019 Saunders himself,from the engineers and from the suppliers. You will, I am sure, note onesignificant absentee; there was no financier. Margaret Thatcher in herbook, The Downing Street Years, recalls that she sought the advice ofHarold Macmillan about the composition of the War Cabinet. He said,%u2018Keep the Treasury out.%u2019 She followed that advice. We followed thatprecedent. The Prime Minister was reported at the time as saying, %u2018Wewill not count the cost, but will keep an account of the cost.%u2019 We did %u2013sort of. So F6 was not present until our very last meeting whenretribution was promised, but Dr Fox was in some difficulty as we hadplainly won. Another great advantage enjoyed by the Committee wasthat it had a clearly defined task and was given the trust and freedom toachieve it. I say that in front of our President, then CAS, and indeed saidit to Ken Hayr. A lesson not always remembered todayOne of the Committee%u2019s major responsibilities, although I cannotrecall how it came about, was to authorise Operational EmergencyRequirements (OERs) for the fitting of new equipment and the carriageof new weapons to enhance the force%u2019s operational capability. This was amost satisfying responsibility. A unique opportunity to get much-wantedweapons and kit into aircrew hands with the minimum of bureaucraticinterference and with Boscombe Down%u2019s clearance given in days, notyears.I shall not mention all the equipment and weapons involved, but willcover some of the ones that seemed most important then, if not later. TheNimrod was fitted with Carousel navigation equipment for obviousreasons connected with the South Georgia reconnaissance flights. It wasalso given a flight refuelling capability. Shortage of aircraft refuellinghose meant that ground refuelling hose was used and the routeing of thisthrough the aircraft was a little primitive. A very senior engineer, not onthe Committee, told me that he could not guarantee that the hose wouldlast for more than ten thousand refuels and he was concerned about thefire hazard during refuelling. I replied that I should be delighted if thehose lasted that long, and the aircrew would be told not to smoke duringrefuelling. Crews were very rapidly trained in the art of flight refuelling,days not weeks %u2013 after all we have always contended, rightly, that wehave the best trained aircrew in the world. Harpoon, an anti-ship missile,