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ROME, April 15 (Reuters) - Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said Britain is not fully sharing technologies with Italy and Japan in a major project to develop a new fighter jet and urged London to bring down the "barriers of selfishness".
In an interview with Reuters, Crosetto emphasised the importance of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which aims to develop by 2035 an aircraft that incorporates the most advanced technologies.
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The defence minister, a senior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's rightist Brothers of Italy party, said sharing technology when making investments together was crucial to a "serious relationship".
"There is no longer anyone who can be considered first and second class and who wants to defend old legacies," he said.
"You have to break down some barriers of selfishness. Italy has broken them down totally, Japan almost totally. It seems to me that the UK is much more reluctant to do this, and that's a mistake because selfishness is the worst enemy of nations."
He did not give any specifics about what technologies the British might be holding back.
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD), asked about Crosetto's comments, said GCAP was a "leading example of the strength of joint programmes".
"The technologies we are developing and the capabilities we are building together are at the cutting edge of science and engineering," an MoD spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
"Collectively we will take to the skies one of the world's most advanced fighter jets."
Rome is in favour of Saudi Arabia joining the programme, which Crosetto called an example of how defence cooperation can be extended to countries outside Europe.
"The choice of Japan was key in this respect, so would be Saudi Arabia, which has a need for technological growth and has more resources available than our three countries," he said.
Britain, Italy and Japan announced last year they would set up a joint company to develop the jet, a step forward in their initial 2022 agreement. Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L), opens new tab, Italy's Leonardo (LDOF.MI), opens new tab, Japan's Aircraft Industrial Enhancement (JAIEC) will each hold a 33.3% share.
Reporting by Angelo Amante and Crispian Balmer Additional reporting by Paul Sandle in London Editing by Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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첫댓글 이탈리아가 뭔가 불만이 있긴 한 것 같은데, 영국이 GCAP 사업 이전 수십년 전부터 투자해서 만든 어떤 소프트웨어를 '공짜로 또는 싸게‘ 달라는 생각이면 도둑놈이고, 그런 것이 아니라 뭔가 문제를 정의하고 풀어내는 know why, know how라면 그것은 사람의 머리 속에 있는 것이라 공유가 어려울 것 같습니다. 한 쪽은 '나는 분명히 가르쳐줬어', 다른 쪽은 '뭔소리인지 모르겠어'할 수 있으니까요.
새 전투기를 만들 땐 각 국가들 요구사항을 적절히 만족시킬 수 있는 기체 설계만 아니라 안에 들어가는 소프트웨어들도 조율할 게 많겠네요. 굴러가기는 하는 건지 의심스런 FCAS보다는 순조롭게 진행되나 싶었는데..
원래 별로 가진 거 없는 쪽에서 공유를 쉽게 하고, 가진 게 많은 쪽일수록 공유를 안하는거죠. 공동 개발이랑 가진거 빼먹을 생각하면 될리가..