The European fighter jet project takes off again. French President Emmanuel Macron hailed this Friday “a big step forward” following the conclusion of an agreement between manufacturers for the construction of the new generation combat device, relaunching a project bogged down for more than a year.
“After intense negotiations, an agreement between industrialists was able to be reached for the next phase of the program” of the Future Air Combat System (Scaf), first indicated the Ministry of Defense in a press release issued in Berlin. “The political agreement on Scaf is a big step forward and – especially in the current international context – an important signal of the excellent cooperation between France, Germany and Spain. It strengthens Europe’s military capabilities and guarantees important know-how for our industry and, more broadly, for European industry”, wrote the French presidency in a press release which underlines that “France ensures the project leader role.
A “certain number of steps” before signing the contract
“We can confirm that the discussions between industry and governments on the next phase of the SCAF have been successful, which represents a major step forward for this flagship European defense program”, reacted the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. “Now, a number of formal steps in the respective countries must be completed in order to allow a quick signing of the contract with which we will have to comply,” he added.
Launched in 2017, the project is supposed to enter service by 2040. At the end of August 2021, the three countries concerned, France, Germany and Spain had signed an agreement providing for 3.6 billion euros in detailed studies to launch in 2025 the construction of a demonstrator in flight.
But the contracts had not been signed for lack of agreement on the sharing of tasks between the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation and its main partner Airbus, which represents the interests of Germany and Spain.
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But the two manufacturers had expressed their optimism in recent weeks regarding the conclusion of this agreement. “We are approaching (of the outcome). We want to remain optimistic and believe that the contract will be signed before the end of 2022,” said Airbus Executive Chairman Guillaume Faury on November 13 during a press briefing in Berlin.
Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, for his part revealed that an agreement was on track at the end of October, during a trip to the business aviation show in Orlando, Florida.
The Franco-German couple revived?
This essential agreement for the continuation of the program comes as French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne is expected on November 25 in Germany, where she will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This visit will be an opportunity for Paris to put some oil in the cogs of the Franco-German engine which had seized up on energy and defense issues.
Berlin had notably announced the acquisition of around thirty American F-35 fighters to renew its fleet last March, a choice criticized by Paris which feared that this purchase would definitively bury the SCAF.
“We are on the right track after long discussions and there is great satisfaction on the German side as on the French side,” German government spokesman Stefan Hebestreit commented on Friday during a press briefing in Berlin.
The war in Ukraine and the progress of a competing project, the “Tempest”, supported by Great Britain, seem to have definitively convinced French and German industrialists to move up a gear on this issue.