France says aircraft carrier price too high

France says aircraft carrier price too high

Former French aircraft carrier Clemenceau

Yahoo

PARIS (Reuters) - France's chief arms buyer on Tuesday rejected the proposed cost of a new French aircraft carrier as too high and urged French and British industries to work more closely on respective projects to keep costs down.

MOPA2, a joint venture between French state shipyard DCN and arms electronics firm Thales, sent a proposal to the DGA arms procurement agency in December but the agency's top official told reporters the price tag was too expensive.

"What you need is a satisfactory industrial proposition, which we don't have at the moment. The proposition is excessive," DGA director general Francois Lureau said.

Speaking at a news conference, Lureau did not disclose the offer price but industry reports have in the past estimated the cost of building France's new carrier at around 2 billion euros (1.3 billion pounds).

France already has one carrier and is exploring whether to build the second one in co-operation with Britain, which has two aircraft carriers on the drawing board.

Both countries face pressure on defence budgets and have urged their defence contractors to make the ships as similar as possible while respecting the specific needs of each navy, such as different aircraft handling systems and accommodation needs.

Lureau said the four main contractors -- DCN and Thales on the French side and BAE Systems and VT Group in Britain -- should provide clear evidence that they were able to meet cost reduction targets by working together on all 3 ships.

"The other condition (besides price) is a good industrial accord on both sides of the Channel," Lureau said.

France and Britain agreed in principle last year to jointly construct three aircraft carriers, with France agreeing to pay 100 million pounds towards the design work.

Britain hopes to deliver the first of two new aircraft carriers to the Royal Navy sometime around 2012, while France wants one new ship by about 2014.

The British ships will carry versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, while the French plan to use the Rafale fighter jet built by Dassault as well as unmanned air vehicles.