The issue of the air tanker is not so simple as what side arm might be used by a specific agency. Nor can it be captured with the "globalization" argument. Neither Northrup-Gruman nor Airbus has any experience building these tankers. Even though the assembly will be done in the US, the primary expertise for and manufacturing of the airframe will come from Airbus. There are huge cultural and organization issues that will neeed to be worked out before this newly formed team can be effective which adds tremendous risk to the project. And there is a huge economic risk associated with economies that are decoupled. Since the dollar and the Euro are not joined at the hip, as the dollar loses ground to the Euro there will be enormous escalations in the cost of these tankers. This is a vast program that will span decades. We do not have such a stable political relationship with the French (and other European countries involved) that we should be risking our national defense on such a venture. EAD itself has had a number of problems associated with differences between the German and French members.
I am sorry... there is no way to spin this as a win-win situation. Frank Nelson --- In [email protected], "Jürgen P." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Earl, > > I fully understand your point about national defense and security. But let me tell you the following that may show you even that battle has been fought long before: 20 years ago when I was a student, I was visiting an American friend in the U.S., and we went on a tour of the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Some good looking female Special Agent (this was before Mulder and Scully came on TV so I really liked the title and the girl) was giving the tour and telling about possible careers, training and equipment used in the Bureau. > > A man in his 40ies asked the Agent how it could be that the FBI had recently chosen to procure for Heckler & Koch submachine guns from Germany instead of buying some comparable American weapon. The girl answered him (and I still remember the severe tone of her voice): "Sir, when it comes to the lives and safety of our Agents, we just want to make sure we get the best product available!". > > ;-) > > Cheers > Juergen >
