NDI OPPORTUNITIES CONFERENCE: BUILDING FOR GROWTH
The Annual NDI Conference is taking place for the first time in Tortworth Court Hotel, near Bristol. On Tuesday 13th and...
BUDGET PRESSURES PUSH UK/FRENCH COOPERATION
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Strategic airlift is one area in which France is looking to cooperate closely with Britain to plug a looming gap in transport and tanking capability, according to Gen. Jean-Paul Palomeros, French air chief of staff, writes Defense News
The move could strike a chord with the new Conservative-led government in London. Within days of coming into office, Defence Ministry officials were ordered to review the 10 billion pound ($14.6 billion) Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program to assess the capability and commercial impact of cooperating with a foreign air force.
Sources said that while there is no presumption the review is being undertaken with the French in mind, they are clearly the most likely candidate for any such tie-up.
The possibility of sharing strategic airlift assets is one of a number of potential areas of cooperation being explored by London and Paris, as budget pressures propel Europe’s two biggest defense spenders closer industrially and militarily.
“We’re looking with the British at strategic airlift,” Palomeros confirmed, speaking on the sidelines of a conference organized by the Economic Defense Council, a think tank, on defense and security relations between Europe and the United States.
