Tweet
Originally posted by DeV
View Post
It appears the MOD have 3 choices
Cancel the trident replacement- unthinkable to the British political establishment who would see it as national humiliation and loss of great power status, even thought its a white elephant
Cancelling the carriers- Would cost labour seats in Scotland to the SNP, seats they need to retain. has been an article of faith since 1998 to build them, they've already cut 25% of their escorts to pay for them, and again great power status would be a factor, the french have a carrier, therefore so should britain
Cancelling tranche 3 of Eurofighter,- the present ones are enough to provide air defence, and the multi-role capability is provided by the F-35, the development of which the americans are accelerating, F-35 is needed for the carriers anyway, and will be used by the americans making logistics simpler.
Can't cut funding for the army-that is impossible with Afghanistan, indeed they are buying equipment under UORs and have already knocked the utility FRES on the head, despite the fact that its needed, as is FRES reconnaissance. therefore Eurofighter would appear to be the project they can save money on.
From todays Ft
UK defies Eurofighter payment calls
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt and Alex Barker and Sylvia Pfeifer in London
Published: April 24 2009 20:25 | Last updated: April 24 2009 20:25
Gordon Brown on Friday defied calls to make a £1bn (€1.1bn) payment for Eurofighter Typhoon jets as European leaders rounded on the UK prime minister for holding up the defence project.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, telephoned Mr Brown this week to urge him to make a decision on funding 16 fighter jets Britain ordered through a four-nation programme conceived more than 25 years ago.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
UK woes threaten to delay jetfighter contract - Apr-18Minister seeks £1bn for Eurofighters - Apr-17More interventions are expected from the leaders of Italy and Spain, amid dismay over Britain’s alleged use of delaying tactics to squeeze costs.
In spite of the high-level pressure, Mr Brown is standing his ground.
A Downing Street spokesperson told the Financial Times: “Given other defence priorities, the prime minister has no intention of going ahead until we’re absolutely sure we have the best out of this deal.”
German officials said the prime minister kept “his cards close to his chest” in his conversation with Ms Merkel.
Agreement on a third production run of 236 aircraft has been held up as the UK’s Ministry of Defence and Treasury thrash out a deal over funding, against a backdrop of ballooning national debt and a stretched defence budget.
Mr Brown’s uncompromising position is unlikely to go down well among European partner nations, who have been locked in talks for months after Britain asked to reduce its order of 88 aircraft – and escape payment of contractual penalties.
When the original contract was signed, the UK pushed for the contractual terms to be as watertight as possible to ensure no partner nations dropped out.
The other three nations in the programme – Italy, Spain and Germany – are making a concession by allowing the UK to count export orders to Saudi Arabia and possibly Oman towards its total order, according to defence industry experts.
However, the UK is facing a bill of more than €1.6bn for the 16 aircraft it is still committed to buying.
European officials are frustrated that the UK promised – but failed – to give a green light after Easter. German officials said the UK had now promised a decision by May 15.
The German government fears that if the UK delays the go-ahead beyond the end of June, Berlin will not be in a position again to sign off on the project until well after the national elections, scheduled for September 27.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Comment