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Germany, France Approve Military Transport Plane Project and Spy Satellite Alliance
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac approved an important military transport plane project and a bilateral spy satellite alliance in order to reduce Europe's dependence on the United States.
The 75th German-Franco Consultation was held on Friday in Mainz, the capital of the state of Rhineland-Pfalz. Two leaders made the announcement after the meeting.
Schroeder and Chirac said that they had agreed to continue developing the Airbus A400M airlifter.
Germany's Bundeswehr is expected to order 75 A400M military transporters at an estimated cost of 20 billion marks (9.8 billion U.S. dollars). France will buy about 50.
It was reported that Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Turkey all had interests in A400M.
A400M will be produced by Airbus subsidiary Airbus Military Company (AMC) in Seville, Spain in 2007. The transporter can carry up to 120 soldiers with equipment.
Schroeder and Chirac also declared that two countries will build a German-Franco spy satellite alliance. According to a joint declaration, Germany would produce an all-weather SAR-LUPE radar satellite and France would offer its HELIOS satellites to the German-Franco alliance.
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