Douglas Barrie/LONDON
THE US DEFENCE Secretary William Perry has rebuffed concerns from his UK counterpart Malcolm Rifkind that the "two-way street" in defence procurement between the two countries heavily favours the USA.
Rifkind raised the issue in a letter to Perry in the wake of the UK's politically contentious decision to buy 25 Lockheed C-130J Hercules military transports for the Royal Air Force, rather than wait for the European Future Large Aircraft.
In the letter, Rifkind raises the issue of reciprocal defence purchases and whether the USA is willing to source more of its military equipment in the UK.
The Ministry of Defence declines to discuss the letter, saying that any such communication is "private".
The exchange takes place against a backdrop of increasing pressure from the UK's European partners, particularly France, to integrate further into the European defence-procurement environment, rather than continue with its traditional North Atlantic bias.
The UK has attack- and support -helicopter requirements and a large stand off missile order to be decided in the next few months. Contract awards in favour of US companies for all the competitions are possible, although such decisions would meet with political objections in the UK and Europe.
Perry's letter will have given Rifkind little ammunition to fight off detractors of the "two-way street". The US defence secretary is believed to have pointed out that the UK provides the single largest group of subcontractors on US defence projects, with a multi-billion dollar order book outstanding.
He also highlights the US Department of Defense's evaluation of systems such as the British Aerospace Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile and the Shorts Starstreak air-defence missile as examples of potential future business.
Alongside the evaluation of UK-manufactured systems, Perry also notes that several previously US-industry only projects, such as the Joint Advanced Strike Technology and the Joint Direct Attack Munition, have been opened to UK involvement.
Source: Flight International
