France, Germany, Spain Commit to FCAS First Flight by 2027

The defence ministers of  France, Germany and Spain have finalized the next phase of the NGWS / FCAS (Next Generation Weapon System / Future Combat Air System) program, which should culminate by 2027 with the first flight of a combat aircraft demonstrator.

Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister of Defense of Germany, and Margarita Robles, Minister of Defense of Spain announced in a joint statement Monday the finalization of discussions in the content of the next phase of the NGWS / FCAS program.

The discussions conducted by the DGA [France] , the BMVg [Germany] and the DGAM [Spain] over the last few months have led to a balanced agreement between the different partners for the next stage of the demonstration phase of the program. The corresponding state arrangements are now ready to follow national administrative processes for formal validation, a statement by the French Ministry of Defense said.

The NGWS will be made up of an “  NGF  ” ( New Generation Fighter ), “  Remote Carriers  ” (remotely piloted aerial platforms) and a combat cloud designed to ensure information superiority. The NGWS, which will be fully integrated into the various national air combat systems of the future, will confer operational superiority in highly contested environments.

By integrating cutting-edge technologies that will provide the armed forces with the expected level of performance (propulsion, maneuverability, radars, optronics, electronic warfare, connectivity, artificial intelligence, interoperability, etc.), the NGWS / SCAF will place the participating industries at the forefront of innovation in the defense sector.

The industrial organization of the program was determined to ensure the coherence and effectiveness of the project, by bringing together the most advanced skills of the industrialists in each country within a balanced, broad and in-depth partnership. The selected cooperation plan offers an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the industrial strengths of the three participating countries, while ensuring the competitiveness of the future system.

This ambitious program will significantly strengthen Europe's status as a reliable and credible security provider, enabling the three participating states to act sovereignly in strategic common spaces.