Leonardo, that’s why the Tempest-FCAS convergence will not be easy
Italy has signed the trilateral MoU on the Tempest program (in which Leonardo participates) and believes convergence with the FCAS program is desirable. But this path is not without obstacles. The analysis by Aurelio Giansiracusa, animator of Ares-Osservatorio Difesa
The Tempest, the air combat system of the future of British initiative, which our country and Sweden joined in 2019, warm up the engines.
On 21 December, the Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerini (Pd), together with his counterparts in the United Kingdom and Sweden, signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) which governs an equal collaboration between the three countries within the program.
Not only. Italy – underlines the Ministry of Defense – believes it desirable "the opportunity to evaluate a possible convergence of the two programs over time" Tempest and the Franco-German-Spanish competitor FCAS.
"At present, there are no great margins of possible convergence between the two programs, Tempest and FCAS", Aurelio Giansiracusa , analyst and expert in military matters, animator of Ares-Defense Observatory , comments to Start . “Because London wants to safeguard its industrial and aerospace research compartment, especially now that it has freed itself from the European Union and has no budgetary constraints and quotas to respect”.
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TEMPEST AND FCAS, TWO SIMILAR BUT NOT THE SAME PROGRAMS
In 2018, the UK launched Tempest, in response to the Franco-German FCAS program (which Spain joined) for the development of sixth generation stealth fighters .
The FCAS program, announced by the governments of France and Germany in 2017, will provide the next level of air power by creating a system of manned and unmanned platforms with full operational capability expected by 2040. Meanwhile, Spain has also joined the program.
The UK has already committed £ 2 billion to the program which aims to start production by 2025, with delivery of the fighter aircraft system by 2035. The sixth generation stealth fighter is expected to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon by 2040.
"The two programs are similar but not the same also because the development of a version that can be used by the new French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is planned for the FCAS / Scaf, while the Tempest does not include this version", underlines Giansiracusa.
THE INDUSTRIES INVOLVED
The contracts awarded by France and Germany for FCAS have been extended to Dassault Aviation, Airbus, MTU Aero Engines, Safran, Mbda and Thales. In December, Spain also defined its role (with Indra as national leader) by signing the initial framework contract for the activities of the Phase 1A technological demonstrators of the Future Combat Air System.
For Tempest, the three national industries include the main defense companies of the United Kingdom (Bae Systems, Leonardo UK, Rolls Royce and Mbda UK), Italy (Leonardo Italy, Electronics, Avio Aero and MBDA Italy ) and Sweden (Saab and GKN Aerospace Sweden).
IMPROBABLE COEXISTENCE BETWEEN DASSAULT AND BAE SYSTEMS
"In the Tempest program – observes the animator of Ares-Osservatorio Difesa – all the British aerospace elite is present from Bae Systems to Leonardo Uk, the division of Leonardo in the United Kingdom, one of the main suppliers of the Ministry of Defense of London (MoD UK ). On the other hand, the FCAS program is Dassault who has taken command of the Franco-German program, with Airbus and the Spanish Indra in the consortium. Cohabitations between Dassault and Bae are unlikely because they should share the cake (the real one of technological development) ”.
THE WISHES OF THE ITALIAN DEFENSE
As stated in the press release, "Italy considers it desirable, as well as other countries participating both in Tempest and in the trilateral FCAS project (France, Germany and Spain), the opportunity to evaluate over time a possible convergence of the two programs, to making the European product further competitive on a global scale, also in order not to risk the start of competition between European groups, which is not easily sustainable and which would probably risk benefiting other regional players with global capabilities, which are developing similar technologies ".
With regard to the European sixth generation hunting, this summer the Undersecretary of Defense Angelo Tofalo had already stated that the future is the convergence of the programs launched so far. For Tofalo, the two programs must absolutely converge if “we want to go and create a true sixth generation product”.
THE POSITIONING OF ITALY WITH LEONARDO
In this regard, Giansiracusa points out that "Italy finds itself in the Tempest program because, as mentioned, Leonardo UK is one of the main suppliers of the UK MoD and because Leonardo is a main partner of Bae Systems in the Eurofighter Typhoon program (before that in the Panavia Tornado program ). At present, an Italian abandonment of the Tempest program is unlikely because the Italian consortium led by Leonardo would be practically cut off from the development activity (the valuable one) in the FCAS program, instead, present in the Tempest program ".
THE POSITION OF SWEDEN
In 2019, Italy and Sweden officially joined the British Tempest initiative. The recent government agreement therefore certifies the trilateral collaboration under the program launched on 22 July by the national industries involved.
Simultaneously with the announcement of the trilateral partnership, Sweden's Saab has revealed an initial investment of £ 50 million and the creation of a new 'Future combat air systems' center in the UK.
"Sweden has decided to converge on the Tempest program bringing as a dowry Saab, an excellent aeronautical manufacturer and more, because it has considered the Tempest program to develop the technologies necessary for the new superiority fighter that will take the place of the Gripen in the coming decades. ”, Remarks Giansiracusa.
THE GERMAN PROBLEMS OF THE FCAS
After months of Franco-German political-industrial rivalry, Paris and Berlin seem to have accelerated on common defense programs. Specifically for FCAS and MGCS (the project of a new tank) , France is a leader in the former with Dassault as prime contractor for the sixth generation fighter (Ngf). Germany instead in the land project, managed by the Knds joint venture, composed of the French company Nexter and the German company Kmw. However, German MPs have called for guarantees that the interests of German companies in the technology sectors are better considered in the development of the project.
In this regard, the analyst Giansiracusa stresses that "Germany has caused more than one problem in the Eurofighter consortium, slowing down and increasing costs and then, as happened in 2020, ordering another thirty Eurofighter fighters and could order one. another fifty to replace the Tornado IDS and ECR.
THE EXPORT NODE
Regarding the FCAS, Giansiracusa observes that "among other things, it will be necessary to see what agreement Paris and Berlin will find on the possibility of export given the very restrictive Berlin legislation on arms".
In October 2019, the governments of Paris and Berlin signed an agreement on the export of jointly developed arms, a necessary step for the development of FCAS. The federal government "would not hinder the export of French arms with less than 20 per cent of German-made components." As per the agreement reached by the French president and the German chancellor at the G7 summit in Biarritz in August 2019. But not much has been done since then.
AT WHAT POINT ARE THE TWO PROGRAMS
Finally, the roadmaps of the two programs do not seem to coincide at the moment.
"The first steps of the FCAS / Scaf program were characterized by the German slowdown in allocating the funds to finance the initial part of the program, also due to the" battle "between Airbus and Dassault for the command of operations", Giansiracusa explains. "Spain slammed their fists on the table and got a 'place in the sun' for Indra who will lead the program to finalize the FCAS fighting system".
“Therefore, in the FCAS program the pieces have been largely moved and the tasks assigned; in Tempest we are in the early stages, after the initial work carried out by the British consortium led by Bae. A reshuffling of the cards, at present, even with the exit from Great Britain from the European Union but obviously not from NATO, seems quite unrealistic and the two programs seem destined to travel on different tracks ”, concludes Giansiracusa.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/leonardo-ecco-perche-non-sara-facile-la-convergenza-tempest-fcas/ on Mon, 04 Jan 2021 11:47:53 +0000.