Post by zen9 on Oct 1, 2016 20:45:02 GMT
At heart the creation of a EU military faces some severe tests for it's members and as a whole. The temptation to 'rationalise' the current plethora of suppliers of arms would be powerful, yet it is the very diversity that ensures supply is not dominated and constricted by a single manufacturer.
How does the EU avoid the pitfall of creating it's own Boeing and LockMart?
Nothing so exemplifies the problem that something like small arms. Buying a single design of rifle permits large scale production, but saps the alternative suppliers and their designs of hope for a future contract.
I'm sure HK and Germany can argue they ought to be the sole supplier of a EU army's rifle. But beyond the narrow national concern and the temptation to simplify and unify such a matter, it will necessarily kill off alternatives.
Should a chosen system like this prove inadequate of flawed, the only option in the absence of alternatives is to keep spending on the design until it either comes good or the single supplier is driven to produce a new and hopefully (but not guaranteed) design.
This is a concern, because without a US style market such as they have in small arms, diversity will collapse and with it cheaper and easier solutions to the military's needs.
Consider how this has happened in the likes of France and the UK for example.
OK this needs to go into the Equipment section perhaps?
How does the EU avoid the pitfall of creating it's own Boeing and LockMart?
Nothing so exemplifies the problem that something like small arms. Buying a single design of rifle permits large scale production, but saps the alternative suppliers and their designs of hope for a future contract.
I'm sure HK and Germany can argue they ought to be the sole supplier of a EU army's rifle. But beyond the narrow national concern and the temptation to simplify and unify such a matter, it will necessarily kill off alternatives.
Should a chosen system like this prove inadequate of flawed, the only option in the absence of alternatives is to keep spending on the design until it either comes good or the single supplier is driven to produce a new and hopefully (but not guaranteed) design.
This is a concern, because without a US style market such as they have in small arms, diversity will collapse and with it cheaper and easier solutions to the military's needs.
Consider how this has happened in the likes of France and the UK for example.
OK this needs to go into the Equipment section perhaps?