Former British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace provoked a diplomatic row with the United States shortly before his resignation, trying to cancel a contract for the supply of 14 American Chinook H-47 helicopters worth 2.3 billion pounds. About this with reference to sources writes The Sunday Times.
According to the contract, deliveries of helicopters manufactured by Boeing should begin in 2026. The Pentagon said that the UK needed the vehicles to participate in joint operations with the United States and other NATO countries. However, according to the newspaper’s interlocutors, in recent weeks, Ben Wallace has expressed doubts about the deal, suggesting that it be canceled to reduce pressure on the UK defense budget.
On August 10, he sent a letter to the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, in which he announced London’s plans to revise the agreement on the purchase of helicopters. In response, the US authorities made representations to British Ambassador to the US Karen Pierce, conveying a message through her to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that terminating the agreement was a “bad idea”. British officials have assured US counterparts that the issue will be resolved when Wallace leaves office, sources told The Times.
Some members of the British government felt that Wallace, by his actions, wanted to annoy the Americans for the fact that the US president did not support his candidacy for the post of NATO Secretary General. However, those close to the minister deny the connection between these events. Wallace had previously opposed the expensive contract. The UK already has 60 American Chinooks, and its fleet of transport aircraft is considered the largest among the European members of NATO.
Ben Wallace has served as UK Secretary of Defense since July 2019. He played a key role in how the British authorities responded to the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. In particular, the United Kingdom was the first Western country to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers. Wallace resigned on August 31, 2023.
2023-09-03 10:10:00
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