2023-09-05 12:00:00
INTERNATIONAL – Before resigning on August 31 and giving way to Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, created a stir in Anglo-American relations. A key figure in Britain’s support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion and unsuccessful candidate for the post of Secretary General of NATO, Ben Wallace has threatened to cancel an agreement with the United States relating to the delivery of 14 Chinook helicopters at a cost of £2.3 billion. According to the British press, the former minister had a hard time digesting the “not” from Washington about its ambition to lead the transatlantic Alliance.
In his post since 2019, Ben Wallace holds the record for longevity at the head of the Ministry of Defense, since a certain Winston Churchill. It has thus survived the last three governments: that of Boris Johnson, that of Liz Truss and the current government of Rishi Sunak. He had already announced during the summer of his intention to retire from political life after nine years in the executive and 18 years in Parliament before officially submitting his resignation on August 31. “I was elected as an MP in 2005 and after so many years it is time to invest in the aspects of life that I have neglected and to explore new opportunities”he wrote in his resignation letter published by the services of Rishi Sunak.
Financial motives or retaliation?
But the past few weeks have been particularly tense. And for good reason: a deal with the United States worth £2.3 billion. According to the British daily The Times, Ben Wallace lobbied to cancel this contract. Sources say the former defense minister wanted to cut costs and “relieve the pressure on the tight budgets of his ministry”. Other members of the government claim, on the contrary, that Ben Wallace’s maneuvers represent reprisals against Washington, which opposed his appointment as Secretary General of NATO. “It sounded like he was trying to piss off the Americans. That’s certainly how some interpreted it,” a source told Times.
The contract concerns the purchase of 14 Chinook H-47 helicopters manufactured by the American Boeing. The first delivery is expected by 2026. The United States claims that these maneuver and assault aircraft “would enhance the UK’s capabilities to contribute to joint operations with Washington and its NATO partners”. An argument that obviously did not appeal to the former Secretary of Defense, arguing that Great Britain already had “the largest heavy transport fleet in Europe”.
The cost of these helicopters is the other reason for Ben Wallace’s reluctance. THE Times claims he already tried to cancel the contract during the previous spending review, but he has been assured by his aides that delaying the deal would result in savings of almost £200million. The result is diametrically opposite since the costs have increased by around £500 million according to the Times and 350 million according to an official audit to reach 2.3 billion. The money, believes the former British leader, could be better spent investing in medium-tonnage support helicopters, which are cheaper to operate.
Ben Wallace also argued that this trifle of 500 million could allow the United Kingdom to acquire two Airbus transport planes and that the operation of Chinook helicopters is expensive. The British fleet of Chinooks of 60 units costs around 14,000 pounds sterling an hour and London does not even have the means of communication allowing it to operate these American helicopters.
Panic among US and UK diplomats
Ben Wallace thus provoked a diplomatic incident. In July, he announced in a letter his intention to his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, to cancel the deal, without this being discussed with the rest of the government. The Times says he does not know whether Rishi Sunak and his cabinet authorized the letter, but it sparked panic among American and British diplomats. The American ambassador to the United Kingdom, Jane Hartley, thus wrote to 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s residence, editor’s note), in order to obtain guarantees on the future of the contract and these “have been provided”.
UK Ambassador to Washington Karen Pierce has also been the recipient of US concerns. In a letter sent back to London, she allegedly warned that it was a “bad idea” to cancel the agreement. The diplomatic incident even forced the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene to ease tensions. The British tried to reassure their counterparts by saying that the problem would be solved as soon as Wallace left the government.
The real motivations of Ben Wallace behind his intention to end the contract differ according to different sources. Some, interviewed by The Timessaid he was “bitterly frustrated by the failure of his campaign to succeed Jens Stoltenberg in June”, renewed in July at the head of NATO for lack of agreement on his successor. A failure attributed to Biden and the White House. Other sources counter that Mr Wallace had already tried to terminate the deal two years ago over concerns exclusively about cost, calling it a “pathetic” any suggested link with the Transatlantic Alliance.
No final decision seems to have been made regarding this helicopter contract. This will undoubtedly be one of the first big choices of the new Minister of Defense, Grant Shapps. On Friday, a Department of Defense spokesman said that“there has been no change to the UK’s future heavy-lift helicopter portfolio”recalling at the same time that “The United States is one of Britain’s closest allies and our defense and intelligence partnership is and always will be one of the strongest in the world.”
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