Future Combat Air System

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), (; ; ) is a European combat system of systems under development by Dassault Aviation, Airbus and Indra Sistemas. The FCAS will consist of a Next-Generation Weapon System (NGWS) as well as other air assets in the future operational battlespace.

The NGWS's components will be remote carrier vehicles (swarming drones) as well as a New Generation Fighter (NGF)—a planned sixth-generation jet fighter—that will possibly supersede France's Rafale and Germany and Spain's Typhoons.

A test flight of a demonstrator is expected around 2027 and entry into service around 2040. According to Airbus, the first test flight of an FCAS fighter jet together with swarming drones, with all vehicles connected to each other via an information technology "combat cloud", is planned for 2028 or 2029.

Contractors

Dassault will serve as prime contractor for the NGF (fighter aircraft), while Airbus will lead the development of accompanying remote carrier vehicles ("drones") and the broader system's supporting "combat cloud". The aircraft will also be carrier-capable and will fly from the French Navy's future aircraft carrier.

Safran Aircraft Engines will be the prime contractor for the engine of the next-generation fighter aircraft, taking the lead in engine design and integration, while MTU Aero Engines, as the main partner for the first phase of research and technology, will take the lead in engine services.

Each country has designated a national industrial coordinator, Airbus for Germany, Indra for Spain and Dassault for France.

History

The FCAS concept was developed in the frame of the European Technology Acquisition Programme (ETAP) that was started in 2001 as a co-operation between Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Spain. The new FCAS concept was a System of Systems (SoS) approach combining manned and unmanned systems, combat aircraft and UCAV, to be more efficient in the envisaged future scenarios than operating with manned systems alone.

In 2017 Germany and Spain asked Airbus to start working on a proposal for a new fighter under the name Future Combat Air System (FCAS).

At the 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show, Dassault Aviation and Airbus announced an agreement to cooperate on the development of the FCAS.

In December 2018, the German Defence Ministry welcomed Spain's expression of interest in the programme.

In June 2019 Spain joined the programme.

Work on Phase 1A activities concluded in early 2022.

In December 2022, Phase 1B was launched.

In June 2023, Belgium became an observer to the FCAS programme. The country was set to join the programme by June 2025.

In December 2019 Safran and MTU Aero Engines agreed on the foundation of a 50/50 joint venture that will be incorporated by the end of 2021 to manage the development, production, and the after-sales support activities of the new engine to power the NGF.

On 12 February 2020, the first phase (1A) of the research and development program was approved by the German parliament budget committee. It set up the industrial distribution of the first five subprograms.

Development

Initial demonstrator

Phase 1A - Initial framework contract

Dassault, Airbus, together with their partners MTU Aero Engines, Safran, MBDA and Thales, were awarded the initial framework contract which launches the demonstrator phase. Beginning February 2020 it is expected to cover a period of 18 months of research and development. While it assigned different roles to the above-mentioned companies, Spain was left out:

* New Generation Fighter (NGF), with Dassault Aviation as prime contractor and Airbus as main partner
* Unmanned systems Remote Carrier (RC) with Airbus as prime contractor and MBDA as prime contractor and Thales as main partner
* Engine for the fighter aircraft with Safran and MTU Aero Engines as main partner
Work on Phase 1A activities concluded in early 2022.

Phase 1B

On 16 December 2022, Dassault Aviation, Airbus, Indra Sistemas, and EUMET signed contracts for Phase  1B of the Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS) within Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program. According to Indra, the technological development phase 1 B was set to involve a contract of more than €600 million for the Spanish company, to be executed until the end of 2025. Phase 1B would lay the foundations for the following Phase 2, which would then run until 2029 and would result in flight tests, to be carried out by functional demonstrators.

On 29 March 2023, Indra, FCMS, and Thales together launched Phase 1B for the development of the connected sensor suite designed to contribute to Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS). The NGWS, consisting of the next-generation combat aircraft and escort drones, forms the core of the Future Combat Airs System (FCAS).

Collaboration within Phase 1B between Dassault and Airbus reportedly was not easy. Speaking in March 2025, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier said the key to the success of the FCAS programme was the recognition by all partners "that Dassault was the architect of the programme", and that the project could only be successful if there was a "prime contractor" (i.e. Dassault).

Phase 2

According to ''FlightGlobal,'' Phase 1B was set to run until the partner nations signed a Phase 2 contract during 2025 to further advance the joint effort.

See also

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References

External links

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{{Stealth aircraft

Proposed aircraft of France
Proposed aircraft of Germany
Proposed military aircraft
French fighter aircraft
New Generation Fighter
New Generation Fighter
Stealth aircraft
Twinjets
Tailless delta-wing aircraft
France defense procurement
Carrier-based aircraft
Spanish fighter aircraft
Sixth-generation jet fighters