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
-
Podcast: NATO's electronic warfare challenge, the latest from Asia-Pacific and the pervasive cyber threat
Welcome to Episode 13 of The Weekly Defence Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. Sign up to an early email alert of future podcasts here.
-
Hensoldt to acquire Nexeya activities
Hensoldt is set to acquire Nexeya’s test and integration and services business as well as major parts of its mission management and power conversion businesses. ...
-
North Korea's Kim oversees test of new weapon with 'powerful warhead'
North Korea's Kim Jong Un has supervised the test-firing of a new tactical weapon with a ‘powerful warhead’, state media reported 18 April, in the ...
-
FLIR Systems to support NBCRV SSU programme
FLIR Systems has received an award from the US Department of Defense in support of the US Army’s nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance vehicle sensor ...
-
Opinion: China, Latin America and the Monroe Doctrine
The Congressional Research Service released a report titled ‘China’s Engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean’ on 11 April, and it raised serious concerns over ...
-
Unconventional 'resistance' cells urged for Baltic defense: study
A Pentagon-commissioned report published 15 April envisions equipping Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with ‘resistance’ cells armed with unconventional weapons to deter Russia from invading. These ...