The Quest for Relevant Air Power

52 │ POST–COLD WAR CHALLENGES
Besides national ventures, international cooperation has always
been an important consideration in European aircraft development.
For instance, Britain, Germany, and Italy joined together to
develop and produce the most important European all-weather
strike aircraft of the Cold War, the Tornado. This project has been
followed by the currently most important European combat aircraft
programme, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Planning started in
the UK as early as 1979. By the mid-1980s, France, Germany, Italy,
and Spain had joined the programme. The early stages of the programme
were plagued by disagreements over operational requirements,
and France finally ceased its participation in the multinational
programme in August 1985. 248 In the ensuing years, the
Eurofighter programme has been exposed to severe delays “caused
by disagreements over specification, work-sharing, the placing of
contracts internationally, and by political considerations in more
than one country.” 249 Despite the inherent drawbacks of international
cooperation, strong voices in Europe have argued that
the future successor of the Rafale, Eurofighter, and Gripen has to
be a single aircraft programme, as Europe will no longer be able to
afford a fragmentation of its aerospace industry. 250
In the domain of airlift, European nations have been pursuing a
cooperative path in the A400M programme. Multilateral efforts to
develop a successor for the C-130 Hercules and the C-160 Transall
began in 1982. This joint venture underwent several changes not
only in the managerial structures and number of participating
nations but also in the project and aircraft names. In the second
half of the 1990s, Airbus Industries was officially handed the main
responsibility for the programme. The programme was also affected
by several political problems. In 1997, for instance, the German
defence minister suddenly pushed ahead with the option of
developing a common European transport aircraft together with
Russia and the Ukraine on the basis of the Antonov An-70. 251
Later on, Germany proved reluctant to commit itself to a definite
order and thereby delayed the whole programme, whereas France
and the UK were pressing for early production. 252 In 2003, when a
multinational order was submitted, first deliveries were expected
before the end of October 2009. Yet due to serious delays in the
programme, as of 2009, the earliest possible deliveries were expected
not to take place before late 2012. 253 Despite this setback,