Berlino e Parigi discutono di eliminare il caccia congiunto pianificato e di concentrarsi sulla “nuvola da combattimento” aerea

> Germany and France are discussing downsizing their €100bn flagship air defence project by dropping plans to jointly build a fighter jet and focusing on development of a command and control system dubbed the “combat cloud”.

> Berlin and Paris are racing to salvage their Future Combat Air System (FCAS), Europe’s largest weapons programme that is on the brink of collapse because Airbus and Dassault Aviation disagree over how to build the programme’s next-generation fighter aircraft.

> One option discussed ahead of high-level meetings this week is to narrow the collaboration to the joint “combat cloud”, officials in both countries said. The concept of creating a cloud-based interface — which would link fighter jets and their pilots to sensors, radars and drones as well as land and sea-based command systems — is already one FCAS pillar.

> If the plan for a jointly built fighter jet is abandoned, focusing on the cloud would enable the countries to continue some form of collaboration, the officials said. They cautioned, however, that no decision had yet been made.

> The combat cloud, which aims to enhance the capabilities of EU militaries by using artificial intelligence to rapidly process large volumes of data, is a collaboration between Airbus’s German-based defence unit, France’s Thales and Spain’s Indra.

> “We can live with several jets in Europe but we need one cloud system for all of them,” one official close to the matter said.

> A second person close to the situation said: “All the other elements [of FCAS] are working well. Why would we stop doing that? There is no need for FCAS to founder completely — there is a need for a combat cloud system.”

> A third person close to the project said focusing on the cloud system might imply rethinking some aspects of it, such as “speeding up the timeline to 2030, from 2040”.

> FCAS’s future will be discussed in meetings between French defence minister Catherine Vautrin and German counterparts in Paris on Monday, and the following day between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, according to officials. Other meetings are planned with the industrial partners.

Spain is that meme of the guy kicking rocks next to the swings, forgotten by everyone.

It really does look like FCAS is dead, which is a depressing thought. I would have much preferred to see the project succeed. Perhaps something good will come of it and a third 6th Gen program will be born.

To be fair, the cloud and connectivity part is critical. I don’t really care if Europe ends with multiple jet fighters, what I really don’t want is to standardise our stuff on US MADL or something.

It is the main issue with those F-35s etc, you’re married to US systems and won’t be able to integrate anything they don’t want too. You can’t make them talk to a European alternative so you either buy more US stuff or happy to have less than optimal use.

Current Progress is into closer integration of platforms and weapons, it’s critical not to be to tied into a US controlled “cloud”.

The fact that despite the scraping of FCAS they re keeping this part is a very good news.

The most logical decision. I’d applaud them if they actually went with it. The current organization CANNOT work no matter how hard they try.

Both countries can make their own airframes with a common engine development, combat cloud and remote carriers. The issue was always about the fighter anyway, not the program as a whole.

If you read what this are proposing for the “combat cloud” it will likely be underwhelming or fall apart as well. A drone integrated in F35, Eurofight, there is no way US allows that for its planes. Also why would GCAP allow a European drone to integrate into it as well, they have no incentive for it, when that program will likely have its own drone system.

French / German alternatives will likely continue being a mess. Germany will honestly probably going to just buy a 6th gen fighter and France will likely either upgrade Rafale or have a poor mans 6th gen fighter which has significant downgrades because it can’t afford to develop an actual fighter alone.

Luckily the multinational cooperation projects involving us seem to be doing fine (GCAP, Horizon, FREMM, Vulcano, Aster, Samp T, Rheinmetall-Leonardo and Bayktar-Leonardo joint ventures)

Time to refit the Tornado…