An Airbus A330 MRTT performing a refueling operation with the Spanish Air Force
Posted on 03/10/2010 6:26:48 PM PST by bruinbirdman
France has vowed to retaliate against the United States for allegedly shutting Europe's aviation giant EADS out of a $50bn (£33.4bn) defence contract, warning of potential damage to the Atlantic alliance.
"This is a serious affair," said France's Europe minister Pierre Lellouche. "I can assure you that there will be consequences."
"You cannot expect Europeans to contribute to global defence if you deny their industries the right to work on both sides of the Atlantic," he said, adding that French president Nicolas Sarkozy would take action "at the appropriate time".
An Airbus A330 MRTT performing a refueling operation with the Spanish Air Force
The escalating spat comes after EADS withdrew this week from a joint bid with Northrop Grumman to supply the Pentagon with A330 air refuelling tankers, alleging that the procurement terms had been rigged to favour Boeing.
EADS had already won the contract before, offering a larger and more efficient aircraft than Boeing's 767, which is based on technology dating back to the early 1980s. The original deal was struck down after an appeal by Boeing.
Defence disputes fall outside the ambit of the World Trade Organization so Paris is looking at other ways to strike back. "It is obvious that if we roll over and do nothing after a fait accompli by the Pentagon, it is the end of Europe's credibility," said Mr Lellouche.
Rainer Brüderle, Germany's economy minister, has also expressed outrage, alleging that the tender "had clearly been designed to favour Boeing under political pressure."
Joachim Pfeiffer, Bundestag spokesman for the Christian Democrats, said the Pentagon's conduct was "scandalous", a sentiment echoed by a string of politicians on Wednesday.
The dispute casts a cloud over EADS ambitions to become a major player in the US and may have larger strategic
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
France will surrender soon...
Did we say anything when France sold mistral-class warships to russia? Not really.
The list, ping
No more photos of Mrs Sarko?
Important to keep in mind, before the yahoos get hold of this story.
And did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
“expect Europeans to fund global defense”? Don’t make me laugh. The reason they can afford their socialism, besides smaller and formerly relatively homogenous nations, is the “great satan” America’s defense umbrella.
The French will sell no more Chateau Sloshy-Foame’ wine to the U.S. in retaliation.
OK, how about when they announced their intention to sell Mistral class warships to Russia? better?
And these are the folks we were to trust building our military equipment to? If that's the standard, we might as well buy from Venzuela. At least Hugo's rhetoric is more bombastic and entertaining.
Oh, no! It’s the French!
take yo plane and shove it!
furthermore I expect nothing from you that isn’t self serving!
all of the above is based on historical perspective and a keen assessment of current events!
Maybe. But at least the vertical stabilizer isn't likely to be the thing to take down a Boeing tanker. If that is 21st century technology, I'll stick with the 80's technology.
.. Didn't we already do one Marshall plan for the frogs.
Exactly. Yet our socialists can’t figure that out and think we can pay for both.
Rather, we’ll run out of other people’s money to spend twice as fast...
I got yer Marshall Plan right here...!
“...larger and more efficient...”
Larger = fewer fields from which it can operate
More efficient = well, as a pilot, I want to be the controller of the plane, not a voting member (as in over the Atlantic in a thunderstorm).
I don’t want my flight controls limited close to the ground (almost creating a crash as can be seen on readily available videos of an scairbus almost crashing cue to crosswind gusts).
Just shows you gotta be careful out there. Those legs look like they could injure one if one is not careful.
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