Today, there are two programs in Europe developing a future air combat system, aiming to implement their vision of a 6th-generation fighter. One is the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP): despite some issues, it keeps gradually moving forward and has recently progressed with the launch of a joint aircraft company — Edgewing. And then, there's the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), where problems only seem to gain momentum, as follows from a Defense One report.
In response to the criticism from the French side — the Ministry for Armed Forces and the Dassault Aviation company — earlier this year, Airbus has issued a statement of its own. While acknowledging Dassault's leading role in the project, Airbus executive Jean-Brice Dumont insists that the workload between the industries should be distributed evenly — in accordance with the shares contributed by governments of the respective countries.
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Here, Dumont refers to Dassault's objections to the voting power of Airbus. As a representative for both Germany and Spain, Airbus holds two-thirds of the votes. French Dassault, meanwhile, is the head contractor and manager of the initiative developing the Next Generation Fighter. One more company from Spain is Indra Sistemas.
On behalf of Airbus, Jean-Brice Dumont says it's not easy to protect your intellectual property and share it at the same time:
"We are today married with BAE and Leonardo in the Eurofighter program. Tomorrow with Dassault, and the transition from one to the other isn't an easy transition when we have to protect our IP and tomorrow we will have to share everything, and I believe that's one of the sources of tensions in this program," he said.
Either way, the project is not being stopped yet, and Dumont assures that new ways are being sought to meet the schedule. The success of FCAS is still possible, provided there is a "smart workshare" and "proper rules of engagement."
That said, other points of contention — such as the French insistence on FCAS carrying its national nuclear weapons instead of American ones, or developing the jet into a carrier-based variant — remain unaddressed, at least in the public domain.
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