On expeditionary issue, there has been a debate in the past between the means for collective defence and the means for expeditionary. For me, it's the wrong debate. If you look at the geographical extent of NATO, when we have any kind of collective defence situation we may have to move forces long distances. Forces have to go from Portugal to Norway, from Canada to Turkey. The distances are expeditionary, so in my mind, beyond a very few assets, there is no opposition between collective defence and expeditionary capabilities.
Do we need to go to niche activities? I would say that as long as we, as a nation, can and decide to maintain a full spectrum and decide not to come down to niches only, NATO would be more than happy, of course. The more we can make sure the alliance globally can address the full spectrum, the better.
When the time comes that a nation has no other choice, then it's good if we have a dialogue among members and with us as the facilitators, or coordinators, to see what are the best ways to specialize. I say so because it comes down to the specialization prong of the modern defence initiative, and also boils down to a topic that is very much discussed, which is burden sharing between the two rims of the Atlantic or between specific nations. It is an important part of the solidarity to prove that everybody is carrying the burden they can carry, so there is no opposition to that.
Technology is important. The effectiveness of a force, in my mind, is the right mix between technology and people. You can have the best technology but if you don't have the right people, or if you have the right people but not well-trained, then the technology will not be very useful.
It is our duty to make sure that we are able to provide to our forces, the men and women we will send into harm's way, the best possible technology we can imagine, not the 120% technology, I would say, but the best technology we can afford to make sure that when we look these people in the eyes, we can say that we have made every effort we could to make sure that we have given them the abilities they need to put into a mission that we, the nation, will give you.
What is the best aircraft? If you ask a French airman, you know the answer.