Scary.....another super power?

[Guest Guest]

What do you think of this? A French/German Super Power

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2...27/150125.shtml

 

Europe Launches Plans for Military to Rival U.S.

NewsMax.com Wires and NewsMax.com

 

Tuesday, May 27, 2003 The European Union demonstrated its determination to become a major military power today when its leading members signed a $23 billion contract to buy a fleet of 180 Airbus A400 military transport jumbo jets, with the capacity to deploy up to 20,000 troops far beyond Europe's shores in a single airlift.

 

The move is a dream come true for French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who since breaking with Washington over Iraq have vowed to create a power to rival the United States.

 

By far the largest military contract the Airbus manufacturers have ever signed, the deal was justified as essential for further military cooperation in Europe and as a crucial symbol of the EU's military ambitions. It will secure 40,000 jobs across Europe over the next two decades.

 

Germany is to buy 60 of the specially designed military transports, France 50, Spain 27, Britain 25, Turkey 10, Belgium seven and Luxembourg one. Germany was originally planning to buy up to 90 aircraft but reduced its order for budgetary reasons, and Portugal said it could not afford any at all.

 

The first aircraft, to be delivered in 2009, will replace the fleets of C-130 Hercules and C-160 Transall and give European armies a far-longer reach and a much-improved cargo capacity. Powered by four high-speed turboprop engines, each military Airbus will carry up to 37 tons or 120 fully equipped troops. It will transport a load of 20 tons over a distance of 3,700 miles at a maximum speed of 422 knots and can use short or unpaved runways and can refuel other aircraft or be itself refueled in flight.

 

The A400m will be unable to carry main battle tanks like the British Challenger 2, which weigh more than 60 tons, so any future EU expeditionary force will be limited to light armor. The EU military force is so far expected to fulfill only peacekeeping and the lighter end of peace-making tasks rather than full-scale armored warfare. But the new strategic airlift capability puts Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East and much of Asia into the EU's wider strategic space.

 

The new aircraft are badly needed. Germany had to lease Ukrainian transports when sending its troops to help the U.S. in Afghanistan, and European troops were painfully slow to deploy in the Kosovo operation because of transport restraints.

 

The deal was signed between the EU's joint armaments cooperation agency, known by its initials OCCAR, in Bonn, and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space, the European Airbus manufacturer owned by France, Germany, Britain and Spain.

 

"I am pleased to see this important collaborative project going ahead," said British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon. "A400M will be a vital new strategic asset for the United Kingdom and its European partners, and will create or sustain thousands of jobs here and across Europe."

 

With Britain still refusing to join the EU's currency, the euro, Prime Minister Tony Blair has emphasized EU defense cooperation as the main symbol of his commitment to the European project. Britain has pushed hard for more EU defense industrial projects such as the A400M and the new Eurofighter.

 

Such investments are required, Blair says, if the European allies within NATO are not to fall technologically too far behind their American allies to be militarily useful.

 

Anger in U.S.

 

The EU's military plans have generated more irritation than admiration in the United States. Congressmen have accused the EU of "a political fix" in giving the contract for the A400M's engines to an Anglo-French consortium.

 

The U.S. company Pratt & Whitney says it offered its engines at a price 20 percent lower than the bid by the Rolls Royce-Snecma consortium. European officials claim that the engines were not comparable and that the A400M is poised to become a major commercial success with sales to other customers worldwide.

 

"The A400M is well positioned to replace a major part of the current worldwide fleet of tactical transport aircraft," said EADS co-chief executives Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich.

 

Richard Thompson, Airbus Military's commercial director, predicted "at least 200 further orders." He cited talks with Canada, Norway, South Africa and Sweden.

 

The strategic thrust of the EU's military ambitions worries some Americans, who fear this could weaken NATO. Blair persuaded the Clinton and Bush administrations that Britain's presence would ensure the new EU force would enhance rather than weaken the European allies' commitment to NATO.

 

Last year's NATO summit in Prague agreed to set up a new and highly mobile rapid-reaction force, and the EU force and the new EU airlift capacity could fit into this concept.

 

But last month's Franco-German-Belgian summit that called for an EU military capability distinct from NATO, and with its own intelligence, staff and logistics arms, and a separate headquarters from NATO, has revived American concerns.

 

"What we need is not more headquarters," commented U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Blair warned, "Add this row to the fall-out from Iraq and you have the beginnings already of the divisions that we wanted to get rid of when the Cold War finished."

 

The problem is that increasing the EU's military capabilities, such as the Airbus contract, is a double-edged sword that could strengthen NATO, so long as the European allies remain committed to the alliance as the central Transatlantic security system. But if that commitment to NATO falters, then the Airbus contract gives the EU the capability to become a global strategic actor in its own right, in a way that could worry the United States in regions where American and European policies differ, as they did over Iraq.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

I think this is great....let them handle all the garbage and conflicts in their back door instead of crying to us for help and then backstabbing us later. With nuclear weapons hovering over everyones head there will be no hostile takeover attempts and the only danger will continue to be the terrorists themselves. Hopefully they'll be able to better curtail the terrorists in their own backyard! Of course this is my humble opinion!

[Guest Guest]

Sounds like the death of the UN, for sure.

[Deblyn]

Why is it a "political fix" - giving the contarcts to a European company? It's a European project, so it seems reasonable that the work be kept in Europe; money need not always be the bottom line. What about the "political fix" that I read about wheree contracts for the "rebuilding" of Iraq are mostly going to US companies?

[Deblyn]

I am aware of the bad feeling from a lot of Americans regarding the French and German peoples. However, there are many more countries than just these two in the E.U., so in no way is the term French/German superpower realistic.

[Guest Guest]

I stand humbly corrected......Germany/France/Spain/Britain/Turkey/Belgium/Luxembourg Super Power......though Germany and France carry the most weight.

 

I don't think anyone here has said that the contract should not go to France.....that was not the point of the post.

 

The bad feelings Americans have toward France and Germany came about during the current conflict. French and Germans have hated Americans since WWII despite our liberation of them, peace-keeping efforts, and billions of dollars of continuing economic support.

 

I hope the United States closes all of it's military bases in Europe and brings our soldiers home. Our economy could sure use all the money we pour into Europe right now. And, it appears that we are not welcome there anyway.

[Deblyn]

"Oh that God the giftie gie us,

Tae see oorsel's as ithers see us............."

 

Robert Burns

 

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Isn't that the truth Lowie!

[Guest Guest]

Sorry to inturrupt this chat, but what does it mean (Lowie's quote)?

[Guest Guest]

Oh that God, the gift he gives us

to see ourselves as others see us.

 

Hope this explains it for you Happygirl!

[Deblyn]

Exactly right!

This was aimed at world leaders in general; when making decisions, they can directly or indirectly affect the whole of the world. It just means try to see the effects of your decisions from another's viewpoint, its ramifications and how other humans who share the planet will see the decisions and their implications from their own point of view. Also to be long-sighted enough to see how and why others have their opinions of you and what you do. The world is in a real mess at the moment.

it is one of my all time favourtie quotes and I'm afraid I use it rather a lot!

[Guest Guest]

Ok! Thanks, Cavey and Lowie! that sure helped!