FUTURE COMBAT AIR SYSTEM (FCAS) TAKES OFF

On February 20 this year, German, French and Spanish national procurement heads signed the initial contract for the combat aircraft demonstrator, an essential component of the FCAS in Paris. This will be a major step forward for a historic European defence cooperation project for which the first test demonstration flights are scheduled for 2026. For the past two years, France and Germany, and more recently Spain, have had an ambitious goal which is to equip their respective air forces with a new-generation combat air system that includes a combat aircraft, its accompanying drones and a ‘combat cloud,’ “the system of systems” that allows them to be connected and interact.