The French and Italians sell warships and armored vehicles to the Russians, Gaddafi becomes a shareholder in the Italian engineering holding Finmeccanica, while Brussels is under pressure to lift the embargo on the sale of military technology to China. Are we sure that selling weapons to anyone and admitting anyone to joint stock companies will justify themselves in a strategic and financial sense?
France has just signed an agreement with Moscow for the production of four Mistral-class multipurpose amphibious assault helicopter carriers. Officially, the Russians intend to use them "to defend the Kuril Islands, which Japan is encroaching on," as General Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, said without fear of sounding ridiculous.
This is the most important military deal of the West with former enemies from Russia, but it is obvious to everyone that these ships have an offensive action, and will most likely be used in the Black Sea to keep the coast of Georgia or the Baltic Sea at gunpoint. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia criticized Paris' decision.
The agreement, which was also reacted negatively in Washington, will allow the French to earn 2 billion euros, and the Russians will receive new technologies, according to which they will be able to reproduce such ships at Russian shipyards in the near future, possibly at lower costs and put them up for sale to the detriment of Western courts.
The first acquisitions made by Moscow in Western countries also concern Italy. Russian troops ordered 2,500 Iveco Lince armored vehicles and, it seems, are interested in buying Freccia e Centauro, of course, so that they can then be produced in Russia, thus getting their hands on the most advanced technology, know how in this area. Today Lince is exported to ten European countries. Are we sure that in the near future the markets will not choose to buy their Russian copies for a lower price? Are we sure that in the coming wars Russia will fight using European weapons on the side of our interests?
But if selling the latest weapons to the Russians is embarrassing, selling them by the Chinese is simply absurd, as I recently wrote in the online magazine Defense Analysis. However, the possibility of lifting the embargo has been discussed with cyclical persistence in Brussels, in effect since 1989, when a student demonstration in Tiananmen Square was brutally suppressed. The last who demanded to lift the embargo was the "foreign minister" of the European Union Catherine Ashton, who immediately received a dry negative response from her country of origin, Great Britain.
In France, Germany and Italy, however, many cannot wait to sell military technology to the Chinese, despite Beijing being a military rival seeking to gain access to energy sources and to participate in international orders, including including the military. Chinese planes, often copies of Russian ones, are already taking part in competitions in Serbia and other European countries. At the moment they have little chance of winning, but if tomorrow they can copy our advanced technology and produce equipment at a low cost, the situation could change.
This is well known to the Russians, who discovered that their Sukhoi-27 and Sukhoi-33 were copied, named J-11 and J-15, respectively, and put up for sale at bargain prices, not to mention ships and missiles. … China sells weapons to Iran and the West's worst enemies, so without even calling for help on the issue of human rights, and it is so clear that there is no reasonable case for selling military technology to China.
Last October, President and CEO of the Italian engineering holding Finmeccanica Pier Francesco Guarguallini said at a conference at the Bocconi University in Milan that “China could become a shareholder in Finmeccanica in the military as well. We have restrictions under Act 185 (which governs military exports - author's note). If these restrictions are lifted, then China will be able to have shares in military production."
Finmeccanica already has a presence in China “in the area of aircraft, train and helicopter traffic,” Guarguallini recalled. "We are betting on this country: America has decided that they can sell them the C-130, which implies that we can sell the C27J to Beijing."
Unlike his predecessors, Barack Obama appears ready to authorize the sale of military technology by removing the C-130 Hercules cargo plane from the list of items prohibited from selling to Beijing. This aircraft has a lot in common with the Italian C27J, which is smaller but capable of landing anywhere.
These planes may be copied by Beijing and put up for sale in the near future. Is it worth disrupting tomorrow's market with the billions received today? It is difficult to refrain from speaking out in relation to political and financial initiatives that can lead to a boomerang effect. This concerns the entry of the public funds of Libya (Lybian Investment authority) into the capital of Finmeccanica. This group was recently described by Foreign Minister Frattini as "strategically important for the nation."
The Libyan contribution of 100 million euros is 2% of the capital of the company, which is one of the world's major manufacturers of weapons, military equipment, it is controlled by the Ministry of Economy, which owns 32.4% of its shares.
We sold helicopters and trains to Gaddafi, donated planes, control systems and patrol ships, but despite all the agreements, he was never a reliable partner. Libyan investments in Italy are already significant (Unicredit Bank - 7.5%, Juventus Football Club - 7.5%, Eni -1%). Do you think it is a good idea to give Gaddafi control over our defense industry as well?
