Dassault Aviation and Airbus get impatient because of the political slowdown concerning the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program. Hence, Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation and Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, calls for the maintaining of “collective momentum, to build European Defense”. This occur a few days before the Franco-German ministerial council that will take place in Toulouse on October 16. “Two years ago, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to jointly develop the European FCAS. This initiative, of major importance for European Defense, now should quickly move forward by launching the programme’s demonstrator phase”, underline the CEOs of Dassault Aviation and Airbus Defense and Space.

They add: “Launching this FCAS demonstrator phase means commencing the first development phase of this 21st century European defense project. In the current geopolitical context, it ensures that Europe can maintain its industrial and operational sovereignty and deal with the threats of tomorrow. If Europe does not move forward — and move forward quickly — on this programme, it will be impossible to maintain the development and production capabilities needed for a sovereign defense industry. FCAS is a highly complex and ambitious undertaking, from a technological, strategic and political viewpoint. It will affect the totality of our air assets and their ability to operate together under optimum conditions. What is at stake is nothing less than our capability to ensure our defense and our autonomy in the air in the second half of the 21st century.”

“The goal is for FCAS to enter operational service in 2040 at the latest. This deadline might seem a long way in the future, but planning needs to start well in advance. It is true that the first major steps have already been taken successfully. The partner nations have jointly expressed their requirements for such a system. A Franco-German industrial organisation has been defined under the respective national leadership of Dassault Aviation and Airbus. A Franco-German Joint Concept Study (JCS) was launched in January 2019 to define the main features of the system. Airbus and Dassault Aviation wish to underline how quickly both companies had jointly concluded agreements and prepared themselves to move forward. Spain has officially joined the programme as the third partner nation”,  recall Eric Trappier and Dirk Hoke.

The two add: “However, future technologies need to be developed now for subsequent flight testing and qualification. This maturation phase is essential to de-risk and anticipate developments of such complexity. That is why government and industry agreed to launch a demonstrator development phase as early as possible, for which French and German industry, coordinated by Dassault Aviation and Airbus, submitted proposals during the Paris Air Show in June 2019. What is important now is to achieve concrete progress on FCAS. The upcoming Franco-German ministerial council meeting should serve as a catalyst for this joint desire to move forward by rapidly launching this demonstrator phase and committing the partner nations to a reliable funding plan to confirm the sustainable and coherent nature of this European development programme.”

Dassault Aviation and Airbus are ready to take up the challenge and are now eager to launch the necessary work to ensure the viability of this programme in the long term. It is now up to our political leaders to have the courage to build on this momentum and take the decisions that are needed to open the next chapter. Let’s not lose any more time. Industry is ready, motivated and united to make this programme a success. Our teams are mobilized to take up the challenge together We call on our political leaders to make every effort to launch these demonstrators at the earliest opportunity in what will be a key step in moving this ambitious project forward”, conclude Eric Trappier and Dirk Hoke.