operating both under NATO and a WEU framework. The British have also
been given the task of heading the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps to which
it has committed substantial troops and aircraft. This force will be
used as the “out of area” force designated by NATO to move anywhere in
the world within a short period of time. This appointment was seen by
the French and Germans to be an Anglo-Saxon dominance of NATO, however
Malcom Rifkind hinted that European forces within the NATO Rapid
Reaction Corps might also operate under the WEU in a time of crises
where U.S. troops could not be deployed. Britain has called for all
new European forces to be put under control of the WEU and by doing
this hopes to group them under a broader frame work. The European
Fighter Over the last decade the cost of weapons research and
production has gone spiralling through the roof. In a time when
governments are under increasing pressure to increase the amount of
money allocated to social rather than defence spending it has made
sense to collaborate with various new weapon systems. One of these
such ventures was to be a collaboration between Great Britain, France,
Germany, Italy and Spain. In 1983 all five nation air forces agreed
upon an outline “staff target” for a joint fighter aircraft. In 1984
all five nations endorsed a formal staff target, however by 1985 the
French had withdrawn from the project on the grounds that the British
would head the project over design leadership. In 1986 the Eurofighter
and Eurojet consortium formed for the EJ200 engine development and in
May 1988 the U.K., Italy and Germany gave the go ahead for development
followed shortly after by Spain. In 1990 a row broke out over the
radar system to be installed within the fighter between the U.K. and
Germany the reasons for this were down to the cost and specifications
required by both nations for their own interpretation of what the
radar should cost and do. By 1991 the Germans had set up a
parliamentary review committee due to the cost of the aircraft
increasing by three to four percent a year and with the reunification
costing Germany vast amounts and the German budget decreasing by three
to four percent a year due to the cost of propping up the East German
economy it was viewed that the aircraft was doubling in cost by the
Germans and that a cheaper and lighter aircraft should be designed and
produced. By 1992 there was discontent not only within the German
armed forces but also within public opinion that the aircraft was
costing far too much. In a statement issued by the German Defence
Minister, Volker Ruhe he said that he was not going to “destroy the
German armed forces of some 370,000 soldiers for the sake of a single
weapon system, we cannot afford this attitude of business as usual if
we want to make the German unification process successful. Ruhe
pointed out that Germany’s long standing commitment to the fighter
extended only through the nearly completed development phase, and that
all parties realised that a separate decision would be made by Germany
on the production phase by 1994.
Ruhe pointed out that two years from now Soviet fighters which
are based only 30 kms from his home city will be more than a thousand
miles to the east. “And between us and them there is already a free
and independent Poland and Ukraine”. To the astonishment of the other
three nations in late June of 1992 Germany promptly withdrew from the
Eurofighter project. Nearly a month before the Defence Minister had
vowed to slash Germany’s defence spending by another DM20-billion
($13-billion) from procurement over the next twelve years.
These cuts would come on top of the DM43.7-billion
($28.3-billion) in cuts announced by his predecessor. Ruhe’s purpose
was to concentrate on modernising and integrating the East German
resources into the military whilst keeping up the morale of the
troops. It was with some concern that the German government reviewed
its decision, when it later realised the implications of the
withdrawal to its own defence industry and the true scale of the part
that it played within the project. By withdrawing from the project it
had put the jobs at risk of some 20,000 defence workers involved in
the EFA development which could then go to the other countries, not
only increasing their employment statistics but also loosing German
firms involved in the production of parts and research valuable
exports and money. Even the aircraft’s direct rivals the French firm
Dassault expressed concern as they believed France’s own long term
survival in the military aircraft business depended on having strong
European partners. On December 11th 1992 the German Chancellor Helmet
Kohl had over turned the decision of his defence minister and
reluctantly announced that Germany was to stay in the ?22 billion
project. The British were said to be delighted with the decision as
they had put a great deal of pressure on the Germans and were at one
time prepared to go it alone when Italy and Spain expressed doubts in
the project after Germany’s withdrawal. After consultation between the
revamped collaboration representatives it was decided to rename the
aircraft as the Eurofighter 2000. The German decision it seems was
based upon the effect on its defence industry as well as its wanting
to show that it was a leading force in the WEU. A number of studies
showed that the cost could be reduced by as much as thirty percent
with some alterations to the aircraft that would not significantly
alter its role or its performance. The German government stated that
it would stay in the development project until 1995, when it will make
a decision on whether to stay with the production phase. The current
cost of the aircraft is put at DM 30-million, just over half the cost
of its cheapest rival. Great Britain has some 15,000 people engaged in
the Eurofighter 2000 development programme within Britain. The Way
Forward The last number of years have seen an increase in the standing
of the WEU as a creditable force at the expense of some concern shown
by the Americans. The WEU can only remain to be a creditable force if
it continues to work within the guidelines of international law, and
works within the European pillar of the NATO Alliance until through
technological advances in its weapon systems and intelligence
gathering capabilities it will be big enough to go on its own without
the U.S. and NATO. This must be done within the framework of the EC
and the political and economical standing of the EC as a truly
European assembly. On the horizon, Malta, Cypress, Turkey and Morocco
have officially requested membership, although only the first two are
likely to be seen as accepted within the near future. While other
European countries such as Austria and Sweden that have traditionally
been neutral, have made applications to join the EC fully conscious of
the move towards political and security union, they have indicated
that they see no problem with this. Other neutral or non aligned
states such as Switzerland and Finland are also debating whether to
make official requests for membership of the EC. Norway and Iceland
are already members of NATO and should have no problems of joining if
they should so wish. Former Warsaw Pact countries such as Poland,
Czech and Slovakia and Hungary have expressed concern over the vacuum
caused by the demise of the Warsaw Pact and see the EC as an “economic
role model and political haven”.
When considered if all of these states were to join the EC
which enhances both political and security union then the Western
European Union could one day stretch from Iceland in the North to
Morocco in the south and from Dublin in the West even up to the very
gates of Moscow itself. That would be a more than creditable force to
be reckoned with!