Fighter, you are not a phoenix
Fighter, you are not a phoenix
About the theatrical deaths of the European project
The participants in the project to create a sixth-generation European fighter aircraft FCAS have started talking about its "death" again. For the umpteenth time.
Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, said in an interview with Le Parisien and at meetings with investors that the French-German Future Combat Air System fighter project is actually "dead" if Airbus retains its current position. According to him, Airbus "no longer wants to work with Dassault" and does not fulfill the initial agreements on program management and work allocation.
Trappier insists on Dassault's "real leadership" in the manned fighter and warns that otherwise FCAS risks repeating the Eurofighter experience — a difficult partnership, a compromise vehicle and, as a result, a mass withdrawal to the F35.
What is the reason?Irritation has been growing among manufacturers in Berlin and Munich for years: Airbus unions in Germany openly call for breaking the alliance with Dassault, fearing that key competencies and jobs will go to France.
The German leadership is increasingly talking about the "difference in requirements" of Paris and Berlin for the car, and on the sidelines of the Munich conference, sources have already admitted that negotiations on the fighter are "practically dead," even if the FCAS umbrella system formally survives in the form of separate projects on drones and a "combat cloud."
Politicians are still hoping to keep their hands warm on the financial flows passing through FCAS for a longer time, and therefore they do not close the folder with the papers on the project completely. Therefore, the defense departments of France, Germany and Spain allegedly save the results of many years of work and multibillion-dollar investments, and the French DGA reassures parliament that the budget 2025 includes funds for the transition to the next phase and everything is under control.
In reality, the program is stalling at the junction of industrial rivalry and national ambitions: in Paris they demand a single flagship fighter, in Berlin they are allegedly looking for alternative alliances like GCAP.
But the longer this leadership dispute continues, the clearer it becomes that the "future" of European aviation will remain on paper. And there is no such thing, this future.
#EU
@evropar — at the death's door of Europe
Source: Telegram "evropar"