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
-
Japan firms up on F-35B orders
Japan’s MoD formally approved the purchase of 42 Lockheed Martin F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighters on 16 August. At that time, ...
-
Podcast: Chinese APCs, French armoured vehicles and Canadian satellites
Welcome to Episode 30 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.
-
Seoul announces major defence boost in 2020-24 plans
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense's (MND) latest Defense Mid-Term Plan covering the five-year period from 2020-24 foresees an ambitious increase in spending. The ...
-
Lockheed receives JASSM FMS support contract
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $99 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) foreign military sales production support. This contract will provide ...
-
Is the ‘Red Dragon’ fearsome or friendly?
If Beijing’s leaders and its numerous mouthpieces are to be believed, China is a friendly and cuddly panda intent on holding the world together. Then ...
-
Analysis: China's air force sees shift in strategic mission
China’s shifting focus from traditional security concerns to global power competition has brought along changes in People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) strategic mission.