Signed during a visit by M. Collet-Billon to the Ministry
of Defence, the agreement begins a three year concept
phase to develop future long range weapons for the
British and French Navies and Air Forces. Each country
will contribute €50 million to this phase.
The Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon programme will look at
options to replace and improve existing Naval and Air
Force weapons systems in the next decade. Lasting up to
three years, this will help to define the missile designs
and reduce risks to inform decisions about the next stage
of the programme
Alongside sharing costs, both sides will benefit from
access to each other’s national technology expertise,
trials and test facilities.
Minister of Defence Procurement said:
Our relationship with France is strong and enduring. We
have a long history of cooperation in defence and
security with our European Ally.
As demonstrated by having Europe’s largest defence
budget, the UK is committed to European security and we
will continue to collaborate on joint defence
programmes across the continent. Today’s agreement will
sustain 80 jobs in the UK.
Délégué Général pour l’Armement Laurent Collet-Billon
said:
We are launching today a major new phase in our
bilateral cooperation, by planning together a
generation of missiles, successor to the Harpoon, SCALP
and Storm Shadow. The FC/ASW (future cruise/anti-ship
weapon) programme’s aim is to have by around 2030 a new
generation of missiles.
This future capability is strategic, industrially as
well as operationally. This new programme will be the
backbone of our “one complex weapon” initiative.
The agreement is a further example of joint work under
the Lancaster House Treaty of 2010 and builds on UK and
French similarities in missile capabilities and delivery
dates, providing significant efficiencies and securing
value for money for the taxpayer.
During the 2016 Amiens Summit, the UK and France formally
confirmed their intent to launch this project within 12
months. This agreement, which allows the Direction
Générale de l’Armement to place the contract with MBDA,
illustrates the dynamic nature of UK-France strategic
cooperation.
UK-French cooperation already covers a wide range of
fields beyond the FC/ASW programme, including research
emerging from the partnership on innovation and missile
technologies (MCM-ITP), work to align our capability
plans, development and production centred on the Future
Air-to-Surface Guided Weapon (FASGW) and the mid-life
update programme of the SCALP/Storm Shadow missile
systems. This new project further strengthens MBDA’s
industrial optimisation building on their new Centres of
Excellence.
