LOC12:33
09:33 GMT
LONDON, Nov 2 (KUNA) -- UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox Tuesday described the
decision to pool troops, aircraft carriers and nuclear testing facilities with
France as making "perfect sense".
At today's Anglo-French summit in London, Prime Minister David Cameron and
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will sign far-reaching treaties which will
commit their forces to operating together for decades to come.
Dr Fox said this would not stop the UK from acting on its own when the two
sides disagreed over policy.
He told BBC Breakfast TV "There is nothing in this treaty that restricts
either country from acting where we want to in our national interest.
"We're talking about joint expeditionary forces with our forces in all
three services working together to develop common practices, better
inter-operability and to look to see where we get better common equipment.
"That makes perfect sense in a world where resources are tight but our
interests are increasingly common."
The key components of the agreement includes Co-ordination of the aircraft
carriers to ensure that there is always a British or French vessel available
for joint operations; The creation of a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force
training British and French troops to deploy on operations together; The
development of a new nuclear testing facility at the Atomic Weapons
Establishment at Aldermaston and its French counterpart at Valduc.
Downing Street said defence co-operation with France was based on a
"hard-headed and practical assessment" of the UK's national interest.
"This summit marks a deepening of the UK-France bilateral relationship.
Ours is now a strategic partnership tackling together the biggest
challenges facing our two countries," a No 10 spokesman said.
The agreement will also see the two countries pooling resources in terms of
training, maintenance and logistics for the new A400M transport aircraft which
they are both acquiring, while French fighter jets could be re-fuelled in
flight from British tanker aircraft.
In the longer term, the two countries will work together on a whole range
of programmes including satellite communications, cyber security and the
development of new missile systems, submarine technologies and unmanned aerial
drones.
The move comes as both nations - long seen as the major European military
powers - are looking to cut the cost of their armed forces.
Publishing the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) two weeks ago,
Cameron announced that the defence budget was to be slashed by 8 percent over
the next four years as the Government tackles the deficit.
It was acknowledged in government circles that achieving better value for
money is one of the key aims of the Anglo-French agreement on both sides of
the Channel.
While the prospect of greater co-operation with the French was raised by
the former Labour government in a defence Green Paper last year, the new
agreement was said to reflect the personal engagement of the Prime Minister
and Mr Sarkozy.
One of the key elements of the plan is for the two countries to co-ordinate
the operation of their aircraft carriers.
Following the decision in the SDSR for Britain to go ahead with only one
new operational carrier - with the second being built and then mothballed -
both nations will be down to a single carrier, with the UK's not available for
another decade.
With the ships spending around 30 percent of their time undergoing refits,
the aim is to esure such maintenance work is co-ordinated so that at least one
vessel is available for joint operations at any one time.
The agreement could in time see British aircraft flying from the French
carrier and French aircraft from the British ship, with the creation of a
joint Anglo-French air wing not being ruled out.
The co-operation on nuclear testing - which is the subject of a separate
treaty - will see the two nations work together on a new hydrodynamic
facility, which ensures warheads are safe and working properly, without the
need for test-firings which are banned under international treaties.
The agreement will see British scientists based in Valduc and French
scientists working in the UK, with the testing being carried out in France
while the technology will be developed in the UK.
It will not however see the sharing of nuclear secrets or the merging of
the British and French nuclear deterrents into a single force, officials said.
(end)
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KUNA 021233 Nov 10NNNN