{"id":36998,"date":"2020-05-26T21:38:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T21:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/26\/three-european-air-forces-approve-performance-benchmarks-for-next-gen-fighter-jet\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:58:32","slug":"three-european-air-forces-approve-performance-benchmarks-for-next-gen-fighter-jet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2020\/05\/26\/three-european-air-forces-approve-performance-benchmarks-for-next-gen-fighter-jet\/","title":{"rendered":"Three European air forces approve performance benchmarks for next-gen fighter jet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 The air forces of Germany, France and Spain have agreed on a set of performance benchmarks to help their governments guide the development of a next-generation fighter jet set to fly in 2040, the German military announced Tuesday in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document, approved earlier this month, is meant to help officials identify what features from a collection of 10 possible system architectures are worth keeping when the time comes to settle on a path forward for the Next-Generation Weapon System, or NGWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That system, with the manned next-gen fighter at its heart, is slated to become the central element of the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, the most ambitious and expensive weapons program in mainland Europe. As envisioned, a small fleet of attack and surveillance drones, or \u201cremote carriers,\u201d would accompany each jet, and all elements would be interlinked by an artificial intelligence-powered \u201ccombat cloud,\u201d according to a project description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10 different system architectures for NGWS currently in the mix lean in different directions \u2014 for example, when it comes to armaments, maneuverability and range of the main jet and its companion drones, the German Bundeswehr statement explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three air force top officials \u2014 Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz of Germany, Gen. Philippe Lavigne of France and Javier Fernandez of Spain \u2014 also agreed on a \u201cCommon Understanding Connectivity,\u201d a guide for connecting national systems into the future FCAS scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document will enable the program\u2019s partner nations to \u201csynchronize\u201d their respective development programs, according to the German statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\t