After the political agreement announced by Berlin and the Elysée on November 18, then ten days of long silence, the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault finally confirmed, Thursday 1is December, that he was ready to enter into contracts with Airbus for the phase leading to the construction of a prototype of the future European combat aircraft, known as “SCAF” (air combat system of the future).
A “go” torn off under pressure, which comes to breathe new life into Franco-German cooperation in the field of armaments, while partly clearing the horizon on the French side in terms of military programming. “Yes, today it is done. We have an agreement with Airbus. All blockages have been lifted”said Thursday, Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, at the Figarothe daily owned by his group.
Even if the contracts still have to be formally signed within a few days, this public declaration by the number one of the French aircraft manufacturer – considered by experts to be the party with the most to lose in the SCAF – is worth a guarantee of a revival of this sixth-generation fighter aircraft project supposed to replace, by 2040, the French Rafale from Dassault Aviation and the Eurofighter Typhoon from Airbus.
The “tank of the future” also relaunched
The precise content of the agreement was not disclosed by Mr. Trappier. For many months, the stagnation of the SCAF – a Franco-German program launched in 2017 and joined by Spain in 2019 – was largely attributed to Dassault’s concern to keep its industrial secrets on a certain number of technological bricks, in particular the controls flight. But, officially, the aircraft manufacturer has not given up.
The group is “confirmed” in his “role of prime contractor and architect of the aircraft”, and has “obtained the protection of [son] industrial know-how and [ses] technologies », assured his boss. The CEO of Dassault Aviation, however, clarified in his interview that the freedom to export SCAF was not yet guaranteed. An important point of disagreement between Paris and Berlin, Germany having a much more restrictive arms export policy than Paris.
“This global industrial agreement represents a major step forward for this flagship European defense programme, reacted soberly Michael Schoellhorn, the boss of Airbus Defense and Space. This paves the way for the signing of a final contract between the countries and the industrial partners (…). We are confident that this can be done in the very near future. »
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