Miércoles 03 de Noviembre de 2010
Los acuerdos bilaterales suscritos entre Londres y París se extienden a tres capítulos fundamentales. En primer lugar ambos países han apostado por compatibilizar el portaaviones francés Charles de Gaulle y su par británico, aún en construcción, de manera que pueda ser operativo por las fuerzas aéreas de las dos naciones.
De esta forma los buques podrán portar aviones de combate de cualquiera de los dos países y se garantizan mutuamente un portaaviones permanentemente operativo. En el capítulo de armamento nuclear, se ha llegado a acuerdos de cooperación en investigación nuclear, que afectan a la creación de laboratorios para el desarrollo de cabezas nucleares y centros de simulación de explosiones, si bien en lo que afecta a los respectivos programas nucleares seguirán siendo independientes. Por último, se articulará una Fuerza Expedicionaria Combinada Conjunta, del tamaño de una brigada, a la que cada uno aportará unos 5.000 soldados, dotada de apoyo aéreo y naval, dispuesta para operaciones de la UE, la OTAN, la ONU o las acordadas bilateralmente. Bien es cierto que no tendrá carácter permanente y que será operativa sólo cuando se la requiera.
Este tratado de colaboración en materia de defensa y seguridad, suscrito a pocos días del tijeretazo hecho público por el Ministerio de Defensa británico a los presupuestos de Defensa de 2011, ha sido vendido como medio para ahorrar costes y esfuerzos sin mermar fuerza. El objetivo último es sentar las bases de un proyecto común destinado a la más que nunca necesaria optimización del gasto militar que, lejos aún de poder materializarse a nivel europeo, encontrará en este pacto bilateral sus primeros pasos.
El pacto firmado por Sarkozy y Cameron, cuyo gasto conjunto representa el 55 por ciento del total destinado a Defensa en Europa, abre la puerta a una extensa cooperación militar entre los únicos dos países europeos que poseen armas nucleares, reviviendo la doctrina de la entente cordiale de principios de siglo pero con el indudable factor del ahorro económico como gran fuerza motora.
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Sarkozy and Cameron meet to sign several defence co-operation treaties
11:39 GMT, November 2, 2010 defpro.com | In today’s challenging security-political environment in which many Western European countries have troubles to meet military requirements with shrinking defence budgets, the UK and France plan to significantly deepen bilateral defence co-operation and to benefit from synergy effect in various areas of the armed forces and research and development. In light of the recently announced serious cuts in the British defence budget and procurement programmes, the UK is not left with many options to retain its position in the international security-political arena. Indeed, one of these options is an unprecedented partnership with its neighbour across the Channel, which has already seen a steady increase during the past few months.
For this purpose, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron today meet in London to sign several treaties in the field of defence co-operation. Still being Europe’s biggest defence spenders (UK and France together account for half of defence spending in the European Union and two-thirds of defence R&D) and the only nuclear powers in Western Europe, the inking of the planned co-operation may create a new axis is European politics and lead to a significant heavyweight within NATO.
“Britain and France do share a real interest here ... There are many areas where we can work together and enhance our capabilities and save money at the same time,” Cameron said on Monday.
According to press reports, France and Britain on Tuesday will sign different treaties, which include plans for a joint brigade-sized army contingent with air and sea support, that could assemble as needed to take part in NATO, EU, UN or bilateral operations. Furthermore, the neighbours seek to join their efforts in increasing the safety of their nuclear warheads by sharing nuclear warhead research and simulation centres.
According to The Guardian, additional aspects to be agreed upon include joint training for pilots (incl. on the A400M) as well as co-operation in the fields of naval capabilities, satellite communications and air-refuelling. French and British defence industry, reportedly, will also seek a deeper collaboration on the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missile technology and other state-of-the-art weapons systems.
However, one of the most hotly debated element and probably the striking symbol for the future Franco-British defence co-operation is the decision to share the navies’ aircraft carriers. Last month’s decision by the British government that only one of the two planned aircraft carriers will be able to launch aircraft, as well as the additional planed cuts in the Royal Navy, has been widely considered as a significant blow to UK’s naval capabilities; in particular, as aircraft carriers tend to have long maintenance periods, not being available for military operations during this time. Furthermore, the first British carrier will not enter service in the near future and, thus, would leave the UK without an aircraft carrier component for a considerably long period.
Therefore, France and the UK plan to share their aircraft carriers: The UK will equip the “Prince of Wales” with innovative electromagnetic catapults and arrestor cables, instead of installing a ski jump for short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft as originally planned. This will allow French Rafale aircraft to land and take-off from the British carrier. The decision made within the framework of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) to purchase the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter conventional carrier variant instead of the F-35B STOVL version, will enable British pilots to operate from the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. Furthermore, such an bilateral agreement would mean that one aircraft carrier will be available at any time for both navies.
Although Cameron emphasised that the Franco-British co-operation agreement is not astep towards a European army, the move may become a role model for the only slowly progressing efforts towards a joint European defence policy and a priming for more cost-effective joint solutions between European partners.
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By Nicolas von Kospoth, Managing Editor
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