French, German and Spanish Air Force Chiefs Sign Two FCAS Agreements

PARIS --- General Philippe Lavigne, General Ingo Gerhartz and General Javier Salto, respectively Chiefs of Staff of the French, German and Spanish Air Forces, have signed two documents relating to their cooperative program "Système de combat aérien du futur,” or Future Combat Air System (FCAS), and the predecessor national combat aviation programs that lead to it.

As Air Force Chiefs, they bring their operational expertise to the trinational project team and to the SCAF/FCAS steering committee.

Signed at the end of a videoconference held on May 7, these documents implement:

-- A tripartite vision - known as “Common Understanding on Connectivity Needs” - to ensure the interoperability of resources within the three Air Forces and with their multinational partners. The connectivity road map towards the new-generation combat system, SCAF/FCAS, is thus laid out.

-- A common definition of operational criteria that will contribute to the evaluation of architectures that can meet the operational needs of SCAF/FCAS that will be proposed by industry.

The next steps of the SCAF/FCAS program are focused on the convergence of architectures composed of new-generation combat aircraft and multi-role drones, demonstrators of which should be able to fly in 2026.

This is the incomplete English translation provided by the French Air Force:

The three Air Chiefs of France, Germany and Spain are working closely together on the common NGWS (Next Generation Weapon System) and national FCAS programs.

As Chiefs of the Air Forces, they provide their operational experience and competence at working level as well as at NGWS steering level. Therefore, after a dedicated remote meeting on May 7, they signed two key documents, for the unfolding of the FCAS program:

-- A common Air Forces’ vision – named Common Understanding on Connectivity – to guide and foster interoperability within their own assets, but also among multinational partners and also to pave the path to NGWS/FCAS with respect to connectivity;

-- A common definition of operational criteria to assist the NGWS Combined Project Team in the process of assessing the potential architectures proposed by industry with their operational expertise.

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