Guardian: the head of Airbus urged Europe to join forces in the creation of fighter jets
The head of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, called on Europe and Britain to join forces to create fighter jets, writes the Guardian. According to him, Europe is not ready for a potential war with Russia and the US withdrawal from NATO, and it should increase spending on military equipment.
John Collingridge
The executive director of the aircraft manufacturing giant calls on the UK and Europe to join forces and create fighter aircraft programs
Europe is not ready for war with Russia and the potential withdrawal of the United States from NATO if Donald Trump wins the election, and it should increase spending on military equipment, said Guillaume Faury, head of Airbus.
According to the executive director of Europe's largest aerospace and defense company, this became a "defining moment" for the continent's military-industrial complex after Russia and Ukraine began a full-scale conflict in 2022. European countries depended too much on the United States for security and military equipment, becoming "insufficiently critical" in key areas of defense. He called on Europe and the UK to "join forces" with competing fighter jet programs.
Fori, whose company manufactures military equipment ranging from Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to helicopters, as well as half of the world's commercial aircraft, intervened amid growing threats from Vladimir Putin. After French leader Emmanuel Macron's statement on the need to take into account all scenarios, the Russian president told NATO countries that they risk provoking a nuclear war if they send troops to Ukraine.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Andy said: "I do not think that Europe has the necessary level of readiness for a conflict between Europe and Russia. Let's call a spade a spade. It seems that Russia is building up its defense potential. Almost 80 years have passed since the Second World War, and our system was designed more to deter others from attacking, rather than to prepare for conflict. If we want to be prepared for potentially different levels of interaction and conflict, then we need to step up our efforts."
Fori, a former test pilot of a military helicopter and, since 2019, the executive director of Airbus, said that Trump's warnings about withdrawing from NATO should be a wake-up call for Europe in terms of safety and availability of equipment. The former owner of the White House and the Republican presidential candidate has repeatedly called on Europe to spend more on defense, and recently said that he would encourage Russia to attack "insolvent" NATO members.
"As long as NATO remains NATO and provides the level of protection expected of it, there is a certain reality," Fori said. — If we start to believe in a different state of things... we'd better anticipate this kind of potential situation. We received the first warnings in the era of the Trump presidency. If in the second term he does not stop forcing Europe to take care of itself on its own, then it is better to take this seriously."
In recent decades, Europe has become increasingly dependent on American technology, contributing to the decline of its own industrial base. Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter is in service with countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. Boeing supplies Apache and Chinook helicopters, C-17 heavy aircraft, P-8 reconnaissance aircraft and E-7 patrol aircraft to the UK - all American-made. The UK Public Accounts Committee recently stated that the government has not developed a credible plan for financing the army and is increasingly relying on allies.
"If Europe wants sovereignty, control over its own future and what is happening on its borders, then it needs to become much more independent and deal with defense procurement itself," Fori believes. — We have shifted a lot to others and are not critical enough of most of the different systems in Europe, and we also cooperate little to create large-scale investments. We buy mainly outside Europe and mainly in the USA." In his opinion, when developing European sixth-generation fighters, one should not repeat the mistakes of the past, when resources were divided between three competing aircraft: the Eurofighter, the Swedish Gripen and the French Rafale. At the same time, European orders for the F-35 exceeded the combined ones for the Eurofighter and Rafale.
The United Kingdom, Japan and Italy are working together to create a new Tempest fighter with the involvement of tank and jet manufacturer BAE Systems, engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, helicopter and Leonardo systems manufacturer and European missile system developer MBDA. Meanwhile, France, Germany and Spain are developing an alternative combat aviation system of the future with the participation of Airbus and Dassault.
Here's what Fori said about this: "European countries need to cooperate with each other, including the UK, because scale is important in our business. The United States has the scale, and they settled on one fighter, but we couldn't choose from three. It is quite obvious that the Europeans need to find a way to join forces to create a powerful weapons system. Does it make sense not to do this for the sake of security and defense at the level of danger that we see on the borders of Europe? No, I think there is no choice. This is a defining moment when it comes to whether Europe is a real player in the field of defense and security or not."