I think a lot of it boils down to what we could offer in such a pact - the more useful we are, the bigger the potential discount. Until now, the state seems entirely against the idea of industrial offsets. So what else can we offer?
The advantages of a pact with the UK are blindingly obvious. Shared areas of responsibility. We could use the same hardware and logistics chains. I still think it should be the first option to explore seriously. (I know the EF is a lot more expensive to operate than the Gripen, but we could offer a lot and I would hope that would bring down costs)
Anyway, after that inevitably collapses it's Sweden - no NATO, or political baggage - instantly that'll have shut up most people who would have moaned about a UK/Irish pact.
Question is, what can we offer them? An extensive training area? Maybe an expanded chunk of the Atlantic for testing anti-ship missiles etc? That in turn could be opened up for other Gripen customers to utilise. Maybe be a link between the Swedish/Brazilian developments with the Gripen/KC-390 - Shannon as a logistics hub for the latter? I'm clutching at straws here.
I'm struggling to work out what we could offer the French. There's overlap in areas of responsibility, but far less than with the UK. And there's the NATO baggage.
In a deal with the US, it wouldn't be hard to work out what we could offer, but that might be even less palatable to the public than a deal with UK.
The advantages of a pact with the UK are blindingly obvious. Shared areas of responsibility. We could use the same hardware and logistics chains. I still think it should be the first option to explore seriously. (I know the EF is a lot more expensive to operate than the Gripen, but we could offer a lot and I would hope that would bring down costs)
Anyway, after that inevitably collapses it's Sweden - no NATO, or political baggage - instantly that'll have shut up most people who would have moaned about a UK/Irish pact.
Question is, what can we offer them? An extensive training area? Maybe an expanded chunk of the Atlantic for testing anti-ship missiles etc? That in turn could be opened up for other Gripen customers to utilise. Maybe be a link between the Swedish/Brazilian developments with the Gripen/KC-390 - Shannon as a logistics hub for the latter? I'm clutching at straws here.
I'm struggling to work out what we could offer the French. There's overlap in areas of responsibility, but far less than with the UK. And there's the NATO baggage.
In a deal with the US, it wouldn't be hard to work out what we could offer, but that might be even less palatable to the public than a deal with UK.
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