United Europe

[uk 75]

The creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) by six Western European Nations (France, West Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) was supposed to be a step towards a united Europe.
Faced by a US distracted by Vietnam and domestic strife and the Soviet Union crushing resistance in Hungary and Czechoslovakia some kind of European Union could have been created by 1973 by men like Pompidou and Brandt.
Meanwhile Britain (as envisaged in some threads here) chooses to remain a blue water power and focus on her interests outside Europe.
What would be the impact of this change on the projects developed in Europe and procurement?

 

[Antonio]

You mean speculating with a true new nation organised as the USA with an Airbus consortium by 1973?
That's a highly improbable scenario, thus difficult to imagine.
But l could imagine it as great opportunity for the high end Mirage designs to enter series production.

 

[NOMISYRRUC]

In 1973 they'd have a total population of about 175 million consisting of 50 million each France, Italy & West Germany and 25 million for the Benelux countries. So multiply the French, Italian & West German armed forces of OTL by 3.5 or the Benelux forces of OTL by 7.

 

[Dilandu]

Well, more standartization in military for sure - for example, standartizing military aviation around French industry.

 

[uk 75]

Tornado would have been led by Dassault. I am not sure whether it would have been a VG or a delta.
W Germany would have led on armoured vehicles though in some areas (wheeled combat vehicles) French designs might have been chosen.
Naval forces would have taken longer to standardise. France would obviously provide nuclear forces.
The key new Euro ships would not come until the 80s when new area anti air ships would be needed. Something like Horizon.
Some US designs would still be competitive. C130 Hercules and big helicopters (CH47 and CH53). Italy and France working together on helicopters would have been interesting.

Sadly I dont see the UK joining in. Entry into the real world Economic Community was a close call in Parliament. The role of BAOR and RAFG within NATO might have been re-examined if the UK stayed "East of Suez". TSR2s would in any case be all based in Britain with detachments in Cyprus and Singapore as necessary. At least one of the three Germany based army divisions might have returned to UK joining Strategic Command as a Prodigal Division alongside 3 Division.

 

[Dilandu]

Naval forces would have taken longer to standardise. France would obviously provide nuclear forces.
The key new Euro ships would not come until the 80s when new area anti air ships would be needed. Something like Horizon.

It would be more problematic, yes. Ships are costly, and demands too different. Italians, for example, prefer heavier units with massive gun batteries. Here I expect more a standartization about sensors and weapons, than ship's design themselves.

 

[uk 75]

Maritime forces in a United European military would be challenging but over time into the 80s and 90s offer some scope for common designs.
Nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers will continue to be provided by France.
Escort ships, coastal forces and conventional subs are going to be different by operational area. In the Atlantic and N Sea Dutch/German and French designs will dominate. In the Mediterranean France and Italy have similar requirements.
Area defence ships offer scope for common vessels (Lutjens/Tromp/Suffren in the Atlantic/N Sea and Suffren/Ardito in the Mediterranean). A European missile system to replace Standard/Tartar in the 80s?
ASW escorts would remain F122 Standard (NL/FRG) George Leygues (France) and Maestrale (Italy). The long service lives of these classes make common designs unlikely.

 

[Scott Kenny]

The creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) by six Western European Nations (France, West Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) was supposed to be a step towards a united Europe.
Faced by a US distracted by Vietnam and domestic strife and the Soviet Union crushing resistance in Hungary and Czechoslovakia some kind of European Union could have been created by 1973 by men like Pompidou and Brandt.
Meanwhile Britain (as envisaged in some threads here) chooses to remain a blue water power and focus on her interests outside Europe.
What would be the impact of this change on the projects developed in Europe and procurement?

The challenge I see happening is getting the individual nations to be willing to surrender some of their national powers to a European Federal government.

Same issue the US had between the Articles of Confederation and the current US Constitution. Under the Articles, the federal government didn't have enough power to do the functional minimums. Which is why the US pretty quickly wrote the Constitution, only 11 years after ratification of the Articles of Confederation!

 

[Michel Van]

Next the European Coal and Steel Community was another project to unite Europe
The Treaty establishing the European Defence Community in 1952.
the Benelux countries, France, Italy, and West Germany. would form a unified defence force EDC
acting as an autonomous European pillar within the NATO

EDC would have entailed a pan-European military, divided into national components,
and had a common budget, common arms, centralised military procurement, and institutions.

A European Political Community (EPC) was proposed in 1952
as a combination of the existing European Coal and Steel Community and the proposed European Defence Community.
A draft EPC treaty, as drawn up by the ECSC assembly, would have seen a directly elected assembly ("the Peoples’ Chamber"),
a senate appointed by national parliaments and a supranational executive accountable to the parliament.

Sadly this french proposal failed in french Parlament in 1954. and Took Plan B: NATO
follow the creation of the European Economic Community

 

[MadRat]

Lets face it, a united Europe up to this point would have been a devolution to a communist state or worst, socialist democracy. I'm happy with independent cultures in Europe. They should return to those origins.

 

[Antonio]

Please take care to avoid ending in a political thread. Stay on topic focusing on just unbuilt aircraft or military hardware.