The United Kingdom’s defense ministry, which is acquiring several major weapon systems from the United States, is closely monitoring those deals to ensure its own companies receive a “sufficient share” of the work as suppliers, according to a key British official.
The U.K. is making a “huge investment” in American hardware, including 138 Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35B Lightning II fighters, 50 Boeing [BA] AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and nine Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, U.K. defense secretary Michael Fallon said July 7. As a result, Britain expects its own defense industry to reap some of the benefits.
“We want this to be two-way traffic,” Fallon said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. “We are buying a lot of high-end American kit … and we expect a fair return from that.”
Exactly what Fallon has in mind is unclear. While British industry has “extensive content” on the F-35, its role on the Apache is actually expected to decline significantly, said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation consultant at the Teal Group. Work shares for all three aircraft mentioned by Fallon are “relatively set,” creating little opportunity for newcomers, Aboulafia told sister publication Defense Daily.
Fallon said that another matter on Britain’s radar is the overall American approach to international trade. With President Donald Trump expressing more skepticism about trade agreements than his recent predecessors, the U.K. is watching for “any tendency toward protectionism that might discriminate against British companies,” including those involved in the U.S. defense sector, Fallon said.
In other comments, Fallon praised a new agreement among the U.S., U.K. and Norway to cooperate on P-8A training, logistics and support. He said the agreement, signed June 29, will help address “the changing security environment and increased Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic.”
Turning to NATO, Fallon welcomed recent increases in defense spending and deployments by alliance members, saying they send a strong signal to Russia that the alliance is ready to defend itself after years of decline.
“We’ve seen a resurgence of NATO,” he said. “We’ve seen a revival of NATO.”
Fallon noted that he is working with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to make NATO less bureaucratic and more agile so it can “respond to an unprecedented range of risks.”
On cyber, Fallon touted the U.K.’s efforts to upgrade its defensive and offensive capabilities. He said the U.K. is using its offensive capabilities against the Islamic State and is willing to use them through NATO “where required.”
On Afghanistan, Fallon said the U.K. is trying to make Afghanistan more resilient to insurgents. The U.K. is sending more military personnel to the war-torn country to help beef up Afghan forces’ training.