European Joint Fighter Aircraft Project Faces Setbacks, France, Germany and Spain Strive to Resolve by Year-End
Reuters, Berlin, Madrid August 28th, news: German Defense Minister Pistorius said on the day that the defense ministers of Germany, France and Spain will meet in October to study how to get the "Future Combat Air System" (FCAS) joint fighter aircraft project back on track.
German Defense Minister Pistorius admitted that the project has been continuously troubled. He said that the defense ministers of the three countries will identify obstacles and find solutions, and submit final decisions by late this year.
He emphasized, "National interests must be set aside by one of us or all of us. We must succeed, we need this project."
Germany accused the French industry of demanding absolute dominance in the project, believing that this demand has hindered the progress of the next phase. Reuters reported earlier this week that the development costs for the next phase are estimated to exceed 10 billion euros. Dassault Aviation, which is responsible for the core manned aircraft part of the project, refused to comment on this.
Airbus and Indra also participated in the project. The project plans to gradually replace the French Rafale and the German and Spanish Typhoon fighters with sixth-generation fighters starting from 2040.
However, there are differences between Berlin and Paris regarding the composition of the consortium. A defense industry source told Reuters in July that France had informed Germany that France hopes to obtain about 80% "mission ratio" in the project. Some industry opinions believe that such differences may jeopardize the start of the second phase of the project, i.e., the development of a flightworthy demonstrator. This phase was originally planned to begin by the end of this year.
German Defense Minister Pistorius said whether to launch the second phase of the project will be decided in the fourth quarter. When asked how the project could be put back on track by the end of this year, he replied, "The answer is actually simple: the signed contract must be followed. If you want to make changes, it can only be achieved after renegotiation among partners." He emphasized, "This process cannot be delayed indefinitely... we must now speed up, because the project cannot have any more delays."
Spain has also expressed an unwavering commitment to the project. Earlier this month, Spain stated that it would no longer consider purchasing American F-35 fighters, but would choose between the Typhoon and the German-French-Spanish Future Combat Air System, purchasing more European-made equipment. In France, German Chancellor Merkel said the day before that he had reached an agreement with Macron to make a decision on the future of the project by the end of this year.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841719598872583/
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