France to press UK on military co-operation

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, will push for closer defence ties with the UK when he meets Gordon Brown, British prime minister, next week in a move that could influence Britain’s most important military procurement programme.

Mr Sarkozy is understood to have written to Mr Brown in recent days, highlighting defence as one of the areas where he believes the two countries could benefit from co-operation. Nuclear energy is another area that Mr Sarkozy is expected to flag up as offering scope for closer links.

In the letter, Mr Sarkozy is thought to have cited Future Rapid Effect System (FRES), the British army’s biggest procurement programme, which will give it a new generation of armoured vehicles, as one area where co-operation would help both countries. The programme will see Britain spend up to £16bn (€20.21bn, $31.73bn) on 3,000 vehicles.

Industry sources say they expect Mr Sarkozy to press Mr Brown to select a vehicle designed by Nexter, the French state-owned company, when they meet in London next week.

Nexter VBCI: FRES Utility Vehicle contender

Nexter is competing against a bid from General Dynamics of the US, and the Americans are widely seen as the frontrunner. In a last-ditch attempt to influence the decision, the chairman of Nexter recently wrote to the UK defence ministry offering to provide the vehicles by 2011 – one year before the date set by the government.

“France is very keen to see this joint interest on co-operating on defence. FRES is one of the items France sees as potentially one of the biggest for co-operation,” confirmed one French source.

Industry sources said Mr Sarkozy was ready to offer the UK the chance to participate in a wide range of French army modernisation projects if it chose Nexter’s vehicle.

Analysts say Nexter needs to find an industrial partner in the next few years if it wants to be able to take part in European competitions for the next generation of medium-armoured vehicles.

Defence sources in Britain said they were doubtful the talks would influence the outcome of the FRES competition and that General Dynamics was still regarded as the favourite.

Source: Financial Times

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