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| Europe |
| France joins carrier project for £140m |
| 2006-01-24 |
| France has agreed to pay Britain as much as £140m to develop and construct an aircraft carrier based on the design of those being built for the Royal Navy. It is the first concrete step towards what would be the biggest joint military programme in a generation. The deal, hammered out in London by John Reid, defence secretary, and MichÚle Alliot-Marie, his French counterpart, would see France pay Britain as much as £100m in three instalments over the course of this year for the rights to the UK design. In addition, France has agreed to put in another £40m towards the development of the carrier, which remains in the final stages of the detailed design work needed before construction can begin. Mr Reid said any decision on whether to move forward as a bi-national programme would be made at the end of the year, when the UK is expected to sign a construction contract. But it appears unlikely France, which has invested financially in the programme and has invested considerable political capital towards an agreement, would back off in 12 months. Senior British negotiators sought to portray the deal as a victory for the Ministry of Defence. British procurement officials have already committed to spending £300m during the development stage of their two-carrier programme, and the French payments have suddenly cut that budget nearly in half. In addition, senior negotiators said Britain would retain full control of the programme despite the French participation. Sir Peter Spencer, head of the Defence Procurement Agency, said: "There is no joint decision-making." British officials have been insistent on such control, hoping to avoid disputes that sank earlier joint programmes, particularly the Horizon frigate, a warship Britain was to build with France and Italy until it pulled out in 1999 following bitter recriminations. For the French, the deal allows them to jump approximately two years ahead in their efforts to build a partner ship to their current carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, since their programme, codenamed Project Juliette and developed by the French shipbuilder DCN, is far less advanced than the Royal Navy design drawn up by Paris-based Thales and BAE Systems. The French decision comes after nearly three years of fitful negotiations, and people involved in Tuesday's meeting emerged surprised and giddy that a deal was completed. "We did not expect such a fruitful result," said one French official. Both sides said the final talks were also unusual in that both Mr Reid and Ms Alliot-Marie were personally involved in detailed and sometimes heated negotiations. The first £30m French payment for the Royal Navy design is expected to come when the deal is officially signed, which Ms Alliot-Marie said could be in a few weeks. A second £25m payment would be mandated for July, but the final £45m year-end payment is to be conditional on France making a final decision to pursue a joint programme. The additional £40m payment will cover about one-third of the development work common to the two UK carriers and the additional French ship, which Britain estimated at £115m. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #2 Hehe. They gotta buy English since the French Foch worked about as well as a lead balloon. That has got too piss the froggies off big time. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2006-01-24 22:33 |
| #1 The last joint Anglo-French naval enterprise was the sinking of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940. Given the efficacy of the Charles De Gaulle, this may lead to the same result. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-01-24 20:48 |