Rebirth of England.

Chapter 1012 Postman

"how?"

Of course Barron remembered Manu, whom Ashley mentioned. After all, he had been the president of France since Hollande.

"He hopes to have the opportunity to meet you."

Ashley says:

"He has performed well in his new position recently, and from what I have observed, his philosophy is quite consistent with ours."

Speaking of which, the current French President Hollande can be considered Manu's "benefactor". The two met in 2006. After that, Manu resigned from his financial inspection job in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance and joined NM Rothschild Bank.

It was also at NM Rothschild Bank, after it was acquired by William Weber Capital, that Ashley discovered Manu's talent.

It happened that Hollande took office as the President of France, so with the support of Ashley and the fact that Manu had a good relationship with Hollande, he became the Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace.

At the end of August this year, Manu was appointed by Hollande as the French Minister of Economy, Industrial Renewal and Information Technology.

Although Manu has only been in office as Minister of Economy for less than two months, his performance has been outstanding. He is determined to reform France's labor market and trade system and continue to promote the process of European integration. It can be said that some of his bold moves have made him the focus of domestic and foreign media.

What Barron and Ashley value is Manu's strong sense of European Unionism, his bold reformist tendencies, and his clear opposition to traditional forces.

"You can arrange the time then."

From the perspective of personal interests, Barron naturally supports European integration. Although it is very difficult to make the European Union a de facto federal state like the United States or the Soviet Union, and there is still a long way to go, unifying the markets in these regions and having a relatively strong authority to coordinate and manage them will enable Europe to occupy a more advantageous position in the future world pattern.

Therefore, Manu is still worth supporting for Barron, of course, on the premise that he can be used for his own benefit.

It was with this idea in mind that Barron said to Ashley:

"Just before we go to Germany."

……

"Yes, we will invest in the research and development of a new generation of medium- and long-range strategic missiles in Europe, and I can guarantee that if this project is successful, we will be able to get orders from Britain to replace the Trident missiles currently used in nuclear strategy."

During this visit to France, Barron also had one thing to do, which was to meet with Hollande in person to finalize Britain's participation in the new generation of medium- and long-range strategic missile project jointly developed by France, Germany and Italy.

After all, for such a "strategic" weapon, it is conceivable that the research and development requires huge investment. As a company, the European Missile Group must ensure that the final developed product can obtain orders.

Currently, France, Germany and Italy have all decided to deploy this strategic missile after the project is successful. If Britain wants to participate, it must also make corresponding commitments.

But the problem is that although Cameron has said that he is ready to adjust their nuclear strategy and use more autonomous missiles to deliver nuclear weapons, the specific deployment quantity and replacement schedule for Trident missiles have not yet been determined - after all, facing domestic opposition, he needs time to get this measure passed in Parliament.

Then Barron will need to communicate with relevant countries personally about this matter. After all, everyone needs to admit that the words of this British Duke are more trustworthy than Cameron.

If the other party can make such a promise in person, then they believe that it can be achieved in the end no matter what.

"We welcome the UK to join us in the development of the next generation of medium- and long-range strategic missiles, and believe that we are eager to have more independent strategic weapons delivery."

Hollande still affirmed Barron's promise.

This time, Standard Defense Group, which is controlled by the Cavendish Trust, will also get involved - because BAE Systems, which originally held a considerable stake in the European Missile Group, did not have much confidence in joining the research and development plan of this strategic missile. Therefore, the final plan is for Standard Defense Group to invest in this project, and Standard Defense Group and BAE Systems will form a joint venture.

BAE Systems will transfer its 37.5 percent stake in European Missile Group to the joint venture, called Standard Strategies.

BAE Systems and Standard Defence each hold 50% of the shares of Standard Strategies, which represents the UK in the next-generation medium- and long-range strategic missile development project being carried out by the European Missile Group in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

According to Barron's idea, since the British side hopes to replace the Trident currently provided by the United States with a new self-developed missile, then this ballistic missile named "Postman" needs to be submarine-launched, and its maximum range should exceed that of the Trident, reaching more than 7500 kilometers.

Such a strategic long-range missile is still very difficult for the European Missile Group to develop, and this is what Barron needs to convince these countries about this time.

Prior to this, these countries had a lot of experience in jointly developing various types of missiles. For example, the most well-known one is the "Storm Shadow" cruise missile developed since the 1990s. This long-range cruise missile, which has been equipped with the air forces of many countries, was developed by the European Missile Group.

However, in the field of ballistic missiles, Britain has been abandoned for many years. Although it still has relevant technical accumulation, it is far behind France.

It can be said that in the field of ballistic missiles, France is the strongest in Europe except for Russia. Therefore, in order to carry out research and development of ballistic missiles through the European Missile Group, it is bound to need the support of France. In this field, Germany can participate in relevant joint research due to historical reasons, but is still restricted from independent research and development.

Britain has been "disarming itself" for a period of time, resulting in a lack of relevant technology.

Therefore, France will inevitably become the main force in this cooperation project.

Of course, France also welcomes countries such as Britain to join in joint research and development.

On the one hand, this can share the financial pressure of related research and development. On the other hand, as France has always advocated European integration and Europe's certain autonomy, they are also happy to see that they are not controlled by others in ballistic missiles and can gain independent delivery capabilities.

What's more, Hollande himself is very happy to show France's position on the international stage, so this move by Britain is very much in line with his expectations.