Media: the resignation of the British Secretary of defense was caused by a diplomatic conflict with the United States

Ben Wallace attempted to terminate the costly contract for the American helicopter purchase.
Former UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace had attempted to terminate a £ 2.3 billion contract for the delivery of 14 American Chinook H-47 helicopters prior to his resignation, causing a diplomatic conflict with the United States. This is reported by a source from the Sunday Times.

The contract called for delivery of Boeing-built helicopters to begin in 2026. The Pentagon has expressed the need for these machines to allow the UK to participate in joint operations with the United States and other NATO countries. However, according to a newspaper interviewer, in the last week Ben Wallace was skeptical about the correctness of the agreement, suggesting that it be cancelled in an attempt to reduce pressure on the UK defence budget.

On 10 August, he addressed a letter to Pentagon leader Lloyd Austin stating that it was planned to revise the London agreement on the helicopter purchase. In response, the American government summoned British Ambassador Karen Pierce, through whom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was informed that it was a "bad idea" to terminate the agreement. According to sources from the Times, British officials convinced their American colleagues that the problem would be solved when Wallace left office.

Some members of the British government are of the opinion that Wallace wanted to regret the Americans for his actions that the president of the United States did not use his nomination to the NATO General Secretariat. But the men around the minister deny the connection between the two cases. Wallace had previously been opposed to costly agreements. The UK already has 60 American Chinook helicopters, and its transport aviatechnical fleet is the largest among NATO members in Europe.

Ben Wallace was the British defence minister since July 2019. He played an important role in the rapid reaction of the British government to the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by RF troops. In particular, the United Kingdom became the first country within the Western world to supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow wing missiles capable of traveling within a radius of more than 250 kilometers. Wallace resigned on August 31, 2023, to be succeeded by Secretary of energy Grant Shapps.