Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS
NEW FRENCH PRIME minister Alain Jupp, has pledged his support for the Dassault Rafale multi-role combat aircraft and the Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter. His position on the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport is somewhat more reserved.
In his first public statement on the defence sector, Jupp addressed a gathering of 2,000 aerospace industrialists during the Paris air show and laid out his support for military programmes viewed as critical to the future of the French aerospace industry.
The prime minister identifies the Rafale as a top priority, with first deliveries of the aircraft due for the French navy's air arm in 1997-8, with air force aircraft due to come on line in 2000.
Along with the Tiger, Jupp also offers reassurances to Eurocopter that the NH90 military helicopter will continue to receive Government support.
Flagging up an increasingly combative attitude toward the USA, Jupp, accuses the US Government of using "unfair means" to shore up its own industry. While he says that he supports international competition so long as it is "fair", he suggests that "...I don't feel this is the case today".
Jupp, reaffirms that the French Government continues to view its aerospace sector as a strategic asset, which should form the core of a restructured European aerospace sector. "It is a means for Europe to affirm its economy and its rightful place in the international setting," he says.
Source: Flight International
