The Americans closely follow the work of the Defense Agency

(BRUSSELS2) The national armaments directors of the European Union met at the European Defense Agency on Thursday 10 May for a board meeting devoted to the various ongoing pooling and sharing projects - such as refueling in flight -, the Sesar system, drones, defense markets, drones... Shortly before, they had been able to talk informally with the US Under-Secretary of Commerce, Eric Hirschhorn.

European arms directors were also "briefed" on the new US arms export control initiative. A reform which aims to reduce the procedure for the purchase of parts and components in the United States, and to improve military interoperability between the United States and its friends and allies, while better controlling the export to the countries of greatest concern. The United States thus plans, explained Hirschhorn, "to revise the export control lists more precisely".

A presence that becomes a habit. The Americans, very interested in the developments of the Europeans in terms of capabilities, no longer want to miss a gram. We know that the Air-to-Air Refueling project was the subject of a small "ping-pong" between NATO and the European Union. A frank and friendly discussion - as we say in diplomatic terms. This project developed at European level would also have been carried by the Atlantic Alliance. He has had to convince the Americans of all the interest of seeing this project developed by the Europeans explained to me an expert of the file.