CONFIDENTIAL
2ND DRAFT
9. Collaborative development is possible only when it becomes
apparent that the defence equipment needs of two or more nations
run in parallel. The NATO aim in the longer term should be to
identify these needs so far in advance that national planning can
evolve on a collaborative basis. To that end, the United Kingdom is an
active member of all the Allied organisations which seek to promote
equipment collaboration, and maintains numerous direct bilateral
and multilateral relationships for this purpose with our NATO and
Commonwealth partners. The effort to reconcile different military,
economic and industrial requirements and timescales is substantial,
and for the most part tangible results on further projects are more
likely to appear in the 1980s and 1990s than in this decade.
10. The Government attaches particular importance to co-operation
through the Eurogroup, and has initiated an examination of methods
to increase further the extent and depth of European collaboration
in equipment, and to rationalise and co-ordinate the procurement of
American equipment. Although there will always be cases in which it
will be sensible to adopt United States designs, healthy European
defence industries are essential to the Alliance.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES 1975-76
11. The management of the development programmes is the
responsibility of the Systems Controllers in the Procurement Executive
the Controller of the Navy, the Master-General of the Ordnance, or
the Controller of Aircraft. The principal projects now in progress
are set out in the following sections.
ATRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT WEAPONS
The Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA)
12.
The strike/attack/reconnaissance version of the MRCA, which is
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