{"id":24312,"date":"2019-02-06T21:54:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T21:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/06\/airbus-dassault-tapped-to-pin-down-franco-german-fighter-plans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:03:11","slug":"airbus-dassault-tapped-to-pin-down-franco-german-fighter-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/02\/06\/airbus-dassault-tapped-to-pin-down-franco-german-fighter-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus, Dassault tapped to pin down Franco-German fighter plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 The French and German defense chiefs announced a contract award to Airbus and Dassault Aviation on Wednesday to narrow down the two governments\u2019 vision of a common, sixth-generation aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement moves the ambitious Future Combat Air System project further along, authorizing the contractor duo to come up with more concrete concepts for the future weapon\u2019s main elements. Those include the manned aircraft at the center of the project, unmanned drones swarming around it and the data infrastructure tying all elements together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-year deal is worth \u20ac65 million (U.S. $74 million) and is meant to lay the groundwork for demonstrator programs to be launched at the Paris Air Show in June, according to a joint Airbus-Dassault statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFCAS is one of the most ambitious European defense programs of the century,\u201d Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke said in a statement. \u201cWith today\u2019s contract signature, we are finally setting this high-technology program fully in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dassault head Eric Trappier touted his company\u2019s chops as “systems architect and integrator\u201d in the statement \u2014 a likely reference to the prized job of overseeing how all components work together. \u201cThis new step is the cornerstone to ensure tomorrow\u2019s European strategic autonomy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t