January 19, 2006
Anglosphere Air Force - Next Generation?
One of the mainstays of Anglosphere defence over the last sixty years has been the quiet but profound ties between the military forces of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and, on occasion, NZ. This co-operation extends from frontline standardization of ammunition to the size and shape of the humblest screws used in equipment.
As a generation of Cold War fighter aircraft reach retirement age, all but NZ have made massive financial and technical commitments to the next generation US fighter (the F-35). The F-22 fighter is just now entering service in the US but has not been offered to any other nation. Recent New Scientist and BBC Online articles suggest that the UK, at least, is still participating in ongoing Anglospheric defence co-operation in the form of a BAE-designed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called the Corax.
Credit: BAE Systems
Credit: BAE Systems
What will be the nature of Anglosphere military co-operation as the UK undertakes greater involvement in EU military structures? Perhaps there will still be an appetite for US-UK Eyes Only military technology in the 21st century. The evolution of UAVs (and their ground [UGV] and sea-going [USV] equivalents) will represent the high-end of military technology in coming years. Depending on whether the Corax next shows up for testing in Toulouse or the Mojave Desert ... we may have some sense of what an Anglosphere Air Force might look like.
Posted by jmccormick at January 19, 2006 12:46 PMIn reading a recent article about why the Royal Air Force was pulling-back from involvement in the F-22 and XF-45 programs, it was concern about "leakage" to the Europeans and the French that was the fatal-factor. Not that the British would give the technology away, the Brits are viewed as implicitly-trusted allies; but that the current integration of the RAF into NATO and the EU-military "communalism" made it impractical to attempt to quarentine the Anglo-American proprietary-technologies from leaking the Europeans through operational-osmosis.
At some point, Britain along with Norway, Sweden and Finland will have to re-examine their ties to the increasingly-communal "Europeans" vis-a-viz their relationship to America and the Anglosphere.
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) at January 19, 2006 03:56 PMJim:
Old news I suspect:) If you think about the Commonwealth military used to adopt British weaponry , uniforms and tactics until the end of the Second world war. The navies had even closer relations (though in Canada this had the unfortunate effect of discouraging the Francophones who found the Canadian far too anglophile for comfort)
In the post war period Canada, Britian and Australia had a steering committee to coordinate the manufacture and improvments of the inch pattern FN from the 50-80s.
I suspect that since Canada has adopted the M16 with improvements and adopted by several NATO countries that Canada, the U.S. and the NATO countries have a new steering committee to ensure all improvments to the rifle are passed on to the other countries.
As for the airforce, I dunno. The F35 programm will be very interesting to watch the development.
I'm sorry but an Anglosphere Air Force? Maybe I'm looking at this wrong but if anything, all I have seen the last few years is a marked decline in the military-industrial cooperation between the UK and the US. Canada's military, while quite meshed with that of the USA's, is nothing close to being a tier 1 partner in ... anything. Australia may be a lone exception here. Our defense ties with much of the Anglosphere world seems to be in decline whereas our ties with non-Anglosphere and outward-peripheral Anglosphere nations seems to be improving.
Sorry but it just seems more wishful than real.
Posted by: Anton Traversa at January 19, 2006 11:03 PMAnton:
Well, the UK is still the only non-US tier one participant in the JSF, although Blair's Euromania is threatening that. UK forces are still interopeable with the US in ways hardly any others even approach, and the principal "other" that does is Australia.
Blair's enthusiasm for European defense integration is threatening Anglosphere defense cooperation, but that's current politics, and is reversible. The foundations are still strong.
Posted by: Jim Bennett at January 19, 2006 11:34 PMThis horse is out of the stable as this report indicates. These changes are not easily reversible because 1) this equipment is not cheap, 2) it takes time to be trained, 3) there are domestic constituencies that have been bought off with contracts who will not welcome change, and 4) the military does little quickly except in war time and by then it will be too late.
Posted by: Richard Heddleson at January 20, 2006 09:22 AMI don't follow UK politics closely. Please tell me this, along with of EU issues, will be a major point of contention in the next election.
I'm hoping something this important does not get shelved for debate on fox hunting.
Posted by: NJSoldier at January 20, 2006 01:09 PM