Britain may share military aircraft

Britain and France will consider sharing Europe's new A400M military transport aircraft as part of closer military ties, but have ruled out common use of aircraft carriers, the countries' defence ministers said.

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, and his French counterpart, Herve Morin, were discussing military co-operation at a meeting in Paris. "When it comes to the procurement of A400M, it makes a great deal of sense when we have budgetary constraints," said Mr Fox. He explained that economies of scale and pooling of assets could enable the nations' armed forces to draw on more resources.