{"id":62123,"date":"2018-11-07T16:36:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T16:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/07\/europes-next-gen-fighter-jet-is-stuck-in-the-bickering-phase\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:38:01","slug":"europes-next-gen-fighter-jet-is-stuck-in-the-bickering-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2018\/11\/07\/europes-next-gen-fighter-jet-is-stuck-in-the-bickering-phase\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s next-gen fighter jet is stuck in the bickering phase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 The future Franco-German combat aircraft program<\/a> is set to begin in earnest early next year, but a key project phase is already in full swing: the bickering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, the two main companies involved \u2014 Dassault and Airbus \u2014 have \u201ca clear common vision on the project,\u201d as an Airbus spokesman put it. But there is also the politicking, the jockeying for position and the mistrust that tends to show itself when there is big money on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That pertains to the second-tier suppliers, with French business weekly Challenges describing a veritable \u201cguerre\u201d \u2014 war \u2014 between Airbus and French electronics specialist Thales. At issue is who will lead the critical networking segment of the future weapon system, the secret sauce for turning flying pieces of bent metal into the type of lethal aerial \u201csystem of systems\u201d that Berlin and Paris want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke, a German, claimed that role in a mid-October interview with La Tribune. And while Airbus says Dassault probably wouldn\u2019t take issue with the arrangement, given its leadership of the actual new combat aircraft, the French company has yet to express a position on the delicate division of labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dassault press office did not respond to several requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, the state of affairs on the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, reflects the political features of a Franco-German friendship pushing Europe in the direction of a more unified military capability. That is, France does most of the pushing, while Germany falls back on its mechanistic reflexes in policymaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Airbus and Dassault Aviation have joined forces to develop and produce Europe\u2019s Future Combat Air System. (Airbus Defence and Space)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To French ears, the German attitude toward the future air weapon may seem downright stoic. That has a lot to do with a mismatch in attitude between the two countries toward military and defense writ large. France traditionally celebrates its defense companies as national champions, whereas in Germany, the arms industry is one of many economic factors, and an often pooh-poohed one at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBased on the existing bilateral declarations between Germany and France, the path forward for the FCAS program is currently being harmonized in close cooperation,\u201d a German Defence Ministry spokesman told Defense News. \u201cThis harmonization encompasses especially the coordination of the required studies in 2019 in order to start the program in a targeted and cooperative manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To German ears, the French rumblings, especially in industry, seem unnecessary and premature.<\/p>\n\n\n\t