Defense, Belgium surprisingly gets on board the FCAS with Germany, France and Spain
Belgium will be admitted as an "observer" in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program of Germany, France and Spain. Surprise announcement in Paris given that the French Dassault had publicly expressed itself against the entry into the program of European countries that have already opted for the American F-35 fighter
Belgium set to board Future Combat Air System (FCAS) sixth generation fighter jet project, with France, Germany and Spain.
The country has offered to participate as an observer in the FCAS, a Belgian defense ministry spokesman said on Monday. And also yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Belgium will be admitted as an observer to the project, on the occasion of the ministerial conference on European anti-aircraft defense organized by Paris.
Launched in 2017, the Franco-German-Spanish program for the sixth generation fighter is designed to replace the French Rafale and the German and Spanish Eurofighters from 2040.
Led by Paris, Berlin and Madrid, the project involves national defense companies Dassault Aviation, Airbus and Indra. The FCAS project has been stalled for a long time due to disagreements between Dassault Aviation and Airbus on the division of jobs. Frictions only overcome last December after intense political pressure, recalls Les Echos .
The observer status would last from six months to a year and would allow Belgium to exchange information with the other partners and assess how different producers could integrate and add value to the project. "It remains to be seen, should the program extend to other countries, whether further delays would result from new rounds of negotiations," comments Defense News .
"The Belgian government has hinted that it is open to joining a European multinational sixth-generation fighter program, despite its previous commitment to the US-led F-35 program," the American newspaper points out.
All the details.
THE REQUESTS OF BELGIUM FOR THE FCAS PROGRAM
"I confirm that the Council of Ministers has agreed to propose our country as an observer in research and development of the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS programme," said Ludivine Dedonder, Belgian defense minister, in a statement.
And just yesterday, French President Macron announced that Belgium will join the Future Air Combat System (SCAF) as an observer, a project that involves the development of a sixth generation multi-role fighter.
MACRON'S ANNOUNCEMENT
"It's an important evolution," Macron pointed out. “This expansion will allow this project at the heart of tomorrow's anti-aircraft defense to be anchored even more in Europe,” Macron said.
THE POSITION OF THE FRENCH DASSAULT
The announcement from Paris is surprising given that in France controversy had already arisen regarding a probable Belgian participation in the FCAS programme.
The CEO of Dassault Aviation, Éric Trappier, had made it known that he was against the expansion of the FCAS to include other countries involved in the F-35 program, albeit European ones. However, he did not rule out the possibility of governments joining as observer nations.
“I've heard of the [interest in the FCAS] of the Belgians. Everything is going very well,” Trappier said during a hearing before the French Senate on the 2024-2030 Military Programming Law, as reported by Brussels Time . “I really don't see the point in putting more F-35 countries into the program. Why should I make room in my factory, in my design office, for the people who chose the F-35?” added the number one of the French Dassault.
OPPOSED TO THE FRENCH SAFRAN
Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, who will take care of the FCAS engine together with the German Mtu Aero Engines , had expressed the opposite opinion of Dassault. “Basically, it makes perfect sense that Belgium wants to join one of Europe's leading combat air programs of the future. And of course, my wish is for Belgium to join the SCAF rather than the Tempest [the sixth generation fighter program of the UK, Italy and Japan],” he told Belgian newspaper L'Echo .
WHAT DOES BELGIAN PARTICIPATION IN THE F-35 PROGRAM HAVE TO DO?
Belgium ordered 34 F-35A aircraft in 2018 to replace its fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons. Delivery of the first two aircraft is scheduled for this year; two additional aircraft scheduled for 2023 have been delayed due to the pandemic. The country is expected to receive the full order by 2030.
As Defense News notes, Alain De Neve, a researcher at the Belgium-based Royal Higher Institute for Defense think tank, agrees that it is highly unlikely that any European country's participation in an American-led fighter program would justify the his definitive exclusion from any European defense project such as FCAS. He noted that both Germany and Spain – two members of the FCAS program with equal shares – have already opted for the F-35 or strongly considered it as a replacement for the fighter. However, this did not generate similar protests from Dassault.
No details are currently known on what an observer status would mean for partner countries. But there is motivation to join FCAS, according to De Neve. “The main purpose of a country's participation in a research program like FCAS is to offer its national industry the opportunity to contribute to the development of the envisaged system, mainly by providing niche technological solutions, as in the case of Belgium,” explained l expert from the Royal Higher Institute for Defence.
However, a state's observer status can deny it access to information deemed sensitive, such as proprietary data, that could thwart those goals, Defense News added.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/difesa-il-belgio-a-sorpresa-sale-a-bordo-del-fcas-con-germania-francia-e-spagna/ on Tue, 20 Jun 2023 06:35:53 +0000.