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Why SCAF and GCAP should seek common ground

23rd April 2025 - 08:58 GMT | by Edward Hunt

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GCAP is a direct rival to the other European sixth-gen combat aircraft initiative SCAF. (Photo: BAE Systems)

Can international industrial collaboration to develop common technologies applicable to different future aircraft programmes – like GCAP or SCAF – prevail in the face of politics?

International industrial collaboration to develop common technologies and subsystems that are applicable to different – and even potential rival – aircraft programmes make perfect sense on paper.

Yet can this approach exist in the face of politics and operational requirements that demand a 100% perfect solution?

While Dassault’s independently developed Rafale has proved both successful for its country of origin as well as for export and is intended for service into the 2050s and beyond, the new effort on the block in France is the Système de Combat Aérien du Futur, or SCAF, intended to replace older canard-delta designs during

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