Josselin Droff, Jade Guiberteau, Camille Laville, Julien Malizard and Laure Noël publish an article in the magazine Defence and Peace Economics
Josselin Droff, Jade Guiberteau, Camille Laville, Julien Malizard and Laure Noël publish the article «The Political Economy of Military Aircraft, the Case of Europe» in the magazine Defence and Peace Economics.
This article analyses the continuities and changes in the aircraft procurement process in Europe, examining the influence of national preferences in terms of sovereignty, industrial issues and strategic needs on procurement strategies.
The authors focused on the defence aerospace industry and studied four aircraft markets (fighters, transport aircraft, helicopters and UAVs) in 30 European countries after the Cold War.
The results reveal a significant heterogeneity of strategies. They suggest a lack of coordination between European countries in their aircraft procurement strategies: a country with sufficient industrial capacity will seek to maximise its national industrial advantages in its procurement choices, to the detriment of its European partners; conversely, a country with no industrial capacity will favour transatlantic suppliers.
Members of the former USSR and the Warsaw Pact have withdrawn Soviet-origin aircraft from service at different rates depending on the market, with European suppliers benefiting more from this process than American suppliers.
The study offers a comprehensive and nuanced perspective on the defence aeronautics industry in Europe, likely to enlighten political decision-makers and players in the sector.
This article is linked to other work previously carried out by the Chair.
