Conference turris::scandia

126.0. "Failures in attempts at Nordic technical cooperation" by TLE::SAVAGE () Fri Dec 04 1992 09:30

    From: [email protected] (Bertil Jonell)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Bury Norden!
    Date: 4 Dec 92 10:09:52 GMT
    Sender: [email protected]
    Organization: Chalmers Tekniska Lekskola, G�teborg, G�taland
    
    'Nordic cooperation' is a costly fiction that should be abandoned.
 
    'Cooperation' implies mutual benefits, but they are simply not there.
 
    Three cases in point:
 
    1   Tele-X, the 'Nordic' satellite. Originally this was a project owned
    in  equal parts by the nordic countries. It was to transmit all the
    television channels of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland to
    eachother, to 'further a spirit of nordic cooperation' and provide a
    hitech boost for the  electronics and aerospace industry.         
 
    Then second thoughts started to appear. One country was afraid that it 
    would complicate the copyright situation for foreign programs, another
    than their eastern neighbour might object to frank newscasts from two
    NATO countries. One after another they pulled out more and more, all
    except 'de dumme Schwede' of course who in the spirit of 'nordic
    cooperation' hanged tough.
 
    Nowadays, Sweden owns a wimpy little satellite, produced at large cost
    and inhabited by one channel. Having seen this channel I cannot imagine
    that they can pay for the satellite themselves, so I guess it is my tax
    money that subsidizes it.
 
    2   JAS-39. It was very curious to see Elisabeth Reen first say that
    she wanted more cooperation between Swedish and Finnish defence
    industry and seconds later announce that she would be buying F/A-18.
    But everybody just smiled and swallowed in the name of 'nordic
    cooperation'.
 
    3   Some ships in the Swedish Navy have replaced their torpedoes with 
    Norwegian missiles several years ago. These missiles have shorter range
    than the torpedoes they replaced. They have smaller warhead than the
    torpedoes they replaced. They are easier to fool than the torpedoes
    they replaced. They are easier to shoot down than the torpedoes they
    replaced.
    
    By any logic, better missiles should have been bought, since they were
    and are available from the US, France, and from Swedish manufacturers,
    but no, the Navy had to get them from Norway, once again to honor
    'nordic cooperation'.
 
 
    So if Finland looses from 'nordic cooperation', and if Sweden looses
    from 'nordic cooperation' why shouldn't it be scrapped as soon as
    possible?
 
 
    -bertil-
 
    --
    
    "It can be shown that for any nutty theory, beyond-the-fringe political
    view or strange religion there exists a proponent on the Net. The proof
    is left as an exercise for your kill-file."