Today a fundamental step was taken for the continuation of the NGWS / FCAS program, when the Budget Committee of the Bundestag (German Parliament) approved the allocation of funds necessary to start phase 2 of the project: the construction of a flight demonstrator.
The fact was published by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Federal Minister of Defense, on her Twitter account:
Der Haushaltsausschuss hat gerade den wichtigen nächsten Schritt für das europäische Projekt #FCAS gebilligt. Zusammen entwickeln wir die Technologien der Zukunft und stärken die Europäische Sicherheit und Verteidigung. 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇪🇸
— A. Kramp-Karrenbauer (@akk) June 23, 2021
It was also celebrated by the French Defense Minister, Florence Parly:
Le Bundestag vient d'approuver une étape cruciale pour la construction du SCAF et de notre futur avion de combat européen🇫🇷🇩🇪🇪🇸Opérationnel en 2040, il sera le fer de lance de notre puissance aérienne. Nous continuons de bâtir une défense européenne forte et concrète. pic.twitter.com/8EoX2MBHPA
— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) June 23, 2021
And it is certainly a cause of celebration, especially for the many large companies and SMEs in Germany, France and Spain participating in the FCAS project, the most expensive defense program in Europe.
Storm clouds over the FCAS
We must not forget that although the FCAS started very well, being a French / German binational program, which was later expanded with the incorporation of Spain, from the beginning of 2021 the environment heated up and the climate became thick.
The problem was mainly between Germany and France, with crossed accusations and threats of slamming doors, due to the differences in the distribution of the workload between both industries; and lack of agreement on ownership of know-how and intellectual property rights (IPR).
The program suffered a deadlock, during which time the governments and the main participating aerospace companies had to re-negotiate the fundamental aspects of the litigation, to see what they could do to continue.
Finally, agreements and commitments were reached and it seemed that everything was going to go well, until a lapidary confidential report was released in which German experts described the FCAS program as a scam towards Germany, and that the weapons system would be born «old».
Stumbling, we continue
The German Government minimized the importance of the report, given that it did not recognize the political importance of the program for the country and for European relations, and asked to prepare a new, updated report.
It remained to be seen how this would impact the decision of the powerful Budget Committee of the Bundestag. The program hung by a thread. The new stage would cost a total of 2,500 million euros (US $ 3,000 million), of which Germany would contribute a good part.
Finally the budget was approved, the money will be turned over and several thousand sighs of relief could be heard throughout Europe. The NGWS / FCAS program, which should replace the Eurofighter Typhoons of Spain and Germany and the French Dassault Rafale from 2040, continues. Hopefully smoothly now.
