British defense procurement minister Lord Willy Bach had few words
of encouragement for BAE Systems, in the light of reports that
the UK Treasury is opposed to a new RAF purchase of Hawk jet trainers.
"I have to pay tribute to the managers and workers at Brough.
The Hawk's been a huge success story. But what is crucial for
the new advanced jet trainer is to get the best trainer we can
for our future pilots. We'll consider our defense industrial policy
and the Hawk's history, but we have to look to the future."
Lord Bach also had words for defense industry critics in the light
of experience in Iraq. "If I were a bitter man, I might turn
to our critics and ask them about the words they wrote or spoke
about weapons like the Challenger 2 or SA80. The Storm Shadow
seemingly was launched successfully --and weeks before we were
reading that it was a scandal, and we weren't able to use it."
