Paris | The plans for future combat aircraft, developed on the one hand by France, Germany and Spain, on the other by the United Kingdom, Italy and Sweden, could be brought in the future to get closer, said the General Delegate for Armaments (DGA) Joël Barre on Monday.
Paris, Berlin and Madrid are together developing the Future Air Combat System (SCAF) when London, Rome and Stockholm lead a similar project called Tempest. All aim to replace their current fighter jets by 2040 and involve phenomenal investments.
“We are both in the design phase, I think that in the years to come, things could perhaps evolve”, estimated Joël Barre on BFM Business.
“In any case, on our side it seems to me, the door is open. If we can one day bring together the two combat aircraft projects that exist today on a European scale, it will still be a good thing ”, judged the head of the DGA, who is in charge of the SCAF program for the three countries.
On this program, after difficult negotiations, industrial offers for study contracts leading to the construction of a flight demonstrator by the end of 2026 were submitted at the beginning of April.
“Now, we must move on to the state agreement between our three cooperating countries, in particular on a certain number of clauses which deserve some additional discussions”, he affirmed, without specifying the points in question but saying to have “good hope ”to get there in the next few days.
The timetable is important: the financing agreement of the three countries must, for the German part, obtain the budgetary approval of the Bundestag. However, it must soon cease its work before the German legislative elections in September.