UK Defence Secretary Michael Portillo underlined the need for international collaboration in the aerospace industry during his visit to Farnborough yesterday.
Portillo says the British industry must find more and new ways of collaborating in Europe and the US to capitalise on its strengths.
"The way of the future is longer production runs and maximised exports - that points to increased collaboration," he says. During his visit to the show as well as looking in on British companies British Aerospace, GEC-Marconi, Hunting, Rolls-Royce and Smiths Industries, the Defence Secretary also visited US giants Boeing, Hughes and Lockheed Martin and France's Aerospatiale.
Potential
All these companies are existing or potential partners in major defence projects, such as the US Joint Strike Fighter and the UK's Future Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile.
Portillo, who has just returned from the US where he discussed the Gulf crisis, says he wants to see much more of the MoD's money spent on equipment and less on bureaucracy and waste.
"We now spend 40% of the defence budget on equipment. The key to the defence budget is buying our way into new technology and staying ahead," he says.
Source: Flight Daily News
