The future European super fighter jointly developed by France, Germany, and Spain is unlikely to appear before 2050.
The future super fighter of Europe (FCAS fighter), also known as the Future Air Combat System, developed jointly by the 3 countries of France – Germany – Spain, has many possibilities that have not appeared in the year 2050.
Disagreements among member states drastically changed development and production plans. Initially, the FCAS fighter was expected to fly between 2035 and 2040.
The controversy is judged to be serious. Germany and France could not agree on each country’s role, so the FCAS program was delayed because it was impossible to share labor between France’s Dassault Group and Germany’s Airbus.
Last but not least, of the three countries, Germany is the member that often makes confusing decisions”. The information comes from a “secret French source”, the Military Watch publication said.
The source clarified: “The three partner countries are debating responsibility, apart from the delay that occurred when the project was brought to a vote in the German Parliament.”
Mr. Eric Trappier – CEO of Dassault, has repeatedly said that there are disagreements in the program. Accordingly, the year 2040 is an unrealizable deadline, instead, the year 2050 is the optimal choice.
The FCAS fighter is expected to replace existing European fighters including the Eurofighter and Rafale, it must compete with the US NGAD fighter and outperform the Russian Su-57 or Su-75.
The Dassault Group wanted greater accountability and production quotas. While Airbus, represented by Germany, is distrustful and suspicious. “We are simply asking the Germans to believe in our leadership,” Mr. Trappier said last July.
Following this statement are several examples given by Dassault, showing many projects in which Germany’s Airbus plays a leading role, and the French consortium only wishes for “reciprocity”.
But Airbus did not back down, it did not agree to let the French corporation manage the “flight and stealth category” of the future fighter without consulting them.
“Airbus doesn’t hold as much experience with fighter jets as Dassault, but we are the main partner,” said Airbus CEO Michael Schellhorn, adding that the French were “undermining the spirit of cooperation and respect.” respect each other”.
In the debates, arguments and mutual accusations led to pessimistic signals, such as Berlin’s decision to buy an F-35 Lightning II fighter from the US because it could not wait too long.
This raises the question of whether FCAS will lose one of its partners, Germany. However, experts commented that Germany’s purchase of fighter aircraft from the US would not cause problems for the FCAS project.
It should be added that 3 countries manage the FCAS project through their representative enterprises. For Germany it’s Airbus, for France it’s Dassault, and for Spain, it’s the technology company, Indra.
Apparently, among the project’s members, only Spain did not pose any problems for FCAS.
