France and Britain hope to deepen defence co-operation, including in unmanned air surveillance, strengthen their influence inside NATO and avoid a confrontation over the future shape of Europe at a crucial Anglo-French summit this Friday.
The two countries may discuss plans for stronger voting rights in NATO for the larger military powers and will look at greater co-operation in the production of a new generation of unmanned aircraft. A lack of drones during the five-month Libyan conflict left the UK and France dependent on the US for targeting.
The summit is likely to bring together London-based BAE Systems and Paris-based Dassault Aviation. The two companies are already jointly developing a MALE drone.
Source: The Guardian