DN - Defence Notes
Spain joins France and Germany on new combat fighter
Spain will join a Franco-German project to build a new fighter plane to replace the Eurofighter and Rafale, the defence ministry said on 11 February 2019.
Defence Minister Margarita Robles will sign a letter of intent with her French and German counterparts on Thursday on the margins of a NATO meeting in Brussels, a spokesperson said.
The project launched in July 2017 is known as the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which in addition to a new combat aircraft also plans to include drones and cruise missiles.
The new fighter jet will replace the Eurofighter which is assembled in Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy, and the French Rafale around 2040.
It will compete with the US F-35 or its successor.
A first contract worth €65 million was awarded to Airbus and Dassault Aviation in February to develop the design of the combat system.
Spain, where Airbus's military transport planes are assembled, had sent a letter in December to Paris and Berlin asking to be associated with the project.
The FCAS has a rival - Britain's Tempest project which has been awarded to BAE Systems, and which Italy and the Netherlands have also joined.
In a December statement, Spain's defence ministry said it was ‘convinced that the two programmes would end up merging, given the huge investment needed in their development.’
More from Defence Notes
-
IDEX 2019: UAE stocks up on military kit (video)
Editor-in-chief Richard Thomas and deputy editor Beth Maundrill discuss the highlights from IDEX 2019. On land, wheels have been stars of the show, from the ...
-
Aero India 2019: Air platforms on display (Insight)
Dark clouds loomed over the 12th edition of Aero India, at the Yelahanka air force in Bengaluru, following the mid-air collision of two Surya Kiran aircraft ...
-
Trump signs 'Space Force' directive
President Donald Trump signed an order on 19 February 2019 outlining his vision for a new ‘Space Force’ that could one day become a separate ...
-
Aero India 2019: Indian Rafale deal comes under scrutiny
The Comptroller & Auditor General’s (CAG) report on capital acquisitions in the Indian Air Force (IAF) was tabled in parliament on 13 February. It examined ...
-
Burundi urges summit over troop drawdown plan in Somalia
The presidents of Burundi and Somalia on 19 February 2019 called for an urgent summit to discuss the contested withdrawal of 1,000 Burundian troops from ...
-
Opinion: US-China military engagement proves a dead end
In 2008 the USMC Commandant Gen James Conway visited the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Marine Corps. He gave a pep talk along the lines ...