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6/24/2025, 9:42:41 PM
>The head of French aircraft manufacturer Dassault, Eric Trappier, has repeatedly pointed out in the past that his company is capable of building the fighter aircraft for the trilateral Future Combat Air System (FCAS) flagship project on its own. At the beginning of the Paris Air Show last week, he called for FCAS to focus more strongly on the fighter and for French industry to play a greater role in the project, thereby calling into question existing agreements regarding the division of labor. Alternatively, he hinted at pulling out of the program.
>If you put yourself in Trappier's position, his demands make perfect sense. Why should Dassault share the know-how yet to be developed for 6th generation fighter aircraft with Airbus on the basis of an inefficient and complex set of rules laid down in seven so-called pillars? Why invest time and effort in coordinating the FCAS project when the order books for the Rafale fighter jet are full to bursting and the development of a new generation of the aircraft plus a companion combat drone has already been commissioned by the French Ministry of Defense?
>On this side of the Rhine, Dassault's announcement should be understood correctly: Dassault wants clear leadership at FCAS and would otherwise - as the past few years have shown - keep shooting crossways or dropping out. A sensible product cannot be developed in this way.
>If you put yourself in Trappier's position, his demands make perfect sense. Why should Dassault share the know-how yet to be developed for 6th generation fighter aircraft with Airbus on the basis of an inefficient and complex set of rules laid down in seven so-called pillars? Why invest time and effort in coordinating the FCAS project when the order books for the Rafale fighter jet are full to bursting and the development of a new generation of the aircraft plus a companion combat drone has already been commissioned by the French Ministry of Defense?
>On this side of the Rhine, Dassault's announcement should be understood correctly: Dassault wants clear leadership at FCAS and would otherwise - as the past few years have shown - keep shooting crossways or dropping out. A sensible product cannot be developed in this way.
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