I get fed up by the arguments made by the CND. What do they suggest we do to rogue states if we give up our nukes? Ask them nicely not to develop their own weapons?

The CND probably thinks all the trouble with North Korea and Iran are exclusively the West’s fault and if we gave up our nukes they’d immediately change and be friendly democracies. :rolleyes:

Some positive news:

RIYADH (Reuters) – BAE Systems (BA.L: Quote, Profile , Research) is optimistic about the future of its business with Saudi Arabia, a senior manager said on Saturday, despite reports that the key customer had suspended talks over a multi-billion-pound arms deal.

Damien Turner, Managing Director of BAE Systems Middle East, declined to comment directly on reports by British newspapers that Saudi Arabia had given Britain 10 days to halt a fraud probe or lose a contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets.

But asked whether talks were still on, he said: “Why should they stop? … All business in the Middle East, whether it’s in Saudi Arabia or other locations — and when you are talking about aerospace — is not simple.

“It is not done overnight.”

“These programs have been for a long time in gestation, and they will continue to be that way and we are taking a very long-term view of the future, a positive view,” Turner added.

Turner was speaking to reporters after an upbeat address on the firm’s plans in the kingdom at a conference attended by Crown Prince and Defense Minister Prince Sultan.

Britain said on Friday it would not seek to intervene in the two-year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into suspected accounting irregularities related to BAE.

The Daily Telegraph had reported on Thursday that Riyadh had given London 10 days to halt the SFO inquiry or lose the contract for the Typhoons being jointly developed by BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defense firm.

BAE Chief Executive Mike Turner was quoted in the Financial Times earlier as saying talks about the sale of the Typhoons to Saudi Arabia had stalled amid the widening probe into BAE.

SFO initially focused its probe on the relationship between BAE and two small travel firms which made arrangements for Saudi Arabian officials on behalf of BAE.

However, a report earlier this week in the Guardian newspaper said the probe was looking into whether BAE money was channeled to members of the Saudi ruling family.

BAE has repeatedly stated that it was cooperating fully with the SFO and believed that it had done nothing wrong.

Damien Turner said BAE would continue its long-term plans in Saudi Arabia, where it has a wide portfolio of subsidiaries opened in the past few decades after it clinched multi-billion-pound contracts from the world’s top oil exporter.

“It’s still business as usual as far as we are concerned,” he said.

Link: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-12-02T200104Z_01_L02149993_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-BAESYSTEMS-SAUDI-DC.XML&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=BizArt-C1-ArticlePage2

Since it sounds like they need replacements in a similar time frame I wonder what the likelihood of a joint US/UK SSBN project be. Thoughts?

Unlikely imo. Britain wants to retain its submarine skills base and with only the SSBN replacement there for the next decade or more to retain design skills it wouldn’t make sense to co-develop it imo. Also there is little chance of cooperation on building because everyone will want to keep their own reactor etc… . So, cooperation perhaps on a very low key components side, but imo nothing major. I’d like to know what the likelihood of a UK developed missile is. 😀 Anyhow, the SSBN replacement should lead to BAE in Barrow-in-Furness recruiting even more people. Their workforce stands at 3500 right now iirc. At the peak of the Vanguard programme in the 1990s the Barrow yard had 14000 employees. Assuming 8 Astutes are built this would mean that the last is delivered in 2021, whilst the first Vanguard (R) [assuming a new SSBN design] would probably be delivered in 2024 or so. With perhaps all boats delivered by 2031 or so. Whatever the timescale is a new SSBN programme is great news for Barrow and will probably lead to their workforce increasing strongly.

That is about 40 million dollars right? How much did the Norwegians contribute to the Eurofighter?

I think the UK is still arguing about the tech transfer deal. I know that B&B said it will all be cleared but I believe some problems remain and are still being discussed.

I think Norway might well be the first opt out. As for Turkey, apparently the civilian government and the procurement agency favoured a split buy of 80 F35 and about 20 or so Typhoons [the air force does not apparently]. A decision if they should be getting Typhoon in addition to the F35 has not been taken yet. I think it’s time for some phone calls. 😉