MoD considers sharing new aircraft carriers

BRITAIN and France could link up to build two aircraft carriers which would be used by the armed forces of both countries to save money on defence budgets and increase the military co-operation between the two countries.

The extraordinary deal is one of a number of proposals being considered by the Ministry of Defence to enable it to cut costs and to maintain manpower within the British armed forces.

Sources say the decision has been taken to spare historic regiments when the results of a review are announced in the government’s white paper on defence in the next couple of weeks.

But that has left the ministry looking for somewhere else for the axe to fall, and the carrier project appears vulnerable.

Charles Heyman, the senior defence analyst for Jane’s Consultancy Group, said yesterday: "Most analysts believe that the current carrier project is going to be difficult to fit into the MoD’s long-term costing and that something is going to give.

"Recent defence market gossip suggests some sort of deal with the French is being considered; possibly one new carrier each within a bilateral defence agreement whereby, in the event of an emergency, the carrier available for operations (if only one is at sea) is made available to the other nation."

The British government had previously appeared keen to build two 50,000-tonne carriers, with the first due to go into service in 2012, followed by the second in 2015.

But the cost of the project, estimated at 2.9 billion, has raised question marks over the programme’s viability. With the Treasury keen to trim defence spending, the MoD has been faced with tough decisions on where the cuts should fall.

There has been speculation that some infantry regiments might face the axe, but military sources have suggested the stories are without foundation. Last week, the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, appeared to rule out any such cuts.

With that money-saving ruled out, eyes have turned to the navy and the RAF. The RAF is expected to be told it will not get the third tranche of Eurofighters it had been expecting, but it is the aircraft carriers that offer the greatest opportunity for cost-cutting.

Last week it was suggested that Britain and France could co-operate on the building of carriers, using the same design to trim costs.

But the alternative proposal - which defence sources say has been given serious consideration - goes much further.

Under this plan Britain would build only one aircraft carrier while France would build the second. Both would be compatible with the French Dassault Rafale aircraft rather than the Joint Strike Fighter, which had been earmarked for the British carriers. The carriers could be used by the air and naval air forces of both countries.

Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, described the plans as a "lunatic suggestion".

"The British carriers are part of our strategy for expeditionary capabilities. It is simply not possible for Britain to operate in such a way with a country with which it finds itself so frequently at odds," he said.

Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat’s foreign affairs spokesman and MP for North East Fife, said: "If these reports are true, they would represent a remarkable development in European defence co-operation.

"But previous experience with the French leads one to believe that such arrangements, while desirable in principle, could be very difficult in practice."