Thales chief urges defense cooperation
French defense manufacturer Thales has proposed to the British government that the two countries cut costs on their next generation of warships by sharing the construction responsibilities, its chief said yesterday.
According to the Financial Times, the British defence ministry has said it was still considering all proposals for its plan to build two aircraft carriers, while unnamed senior French officials were quoted by the paper as saying that Britain was "sympathetic" to the Thales proposal.
"Building the ships together would be in the best interests of British and French taxpayers," Thales Chief Executive Denis Ranque told the newspaper.
With France planning to build one aircraft carrier, Ranque said the two countries should join forces and merge the separate projects into a single three-ship plan.
He proposed that France handle about a third of each ship, while Britain could deal with the other two-thirds, in a move that was likely directed at placating Britain's biggest defence manufacturer BAE Systems.
"If we can find a way that industry is incentivised, if part of the savings are going to industry itself, I do not see why our friends at BAE Systems would not take that on," Ranque was quoted as saying by the FT.
Ranque conceded, however, that there would be opposition to his proposals, thanks in part to Britain's naval heritage: "In the UK, the navy is sacred."
AFP
(China Daily 04/24/2007 page16)
