As expected, nationalism wins: even in the new millennium the French will build the sixth generation aircraft themselves
The French never contradict themselves. It was 1985 when the Dassault company left the Eurofighter project to independently develop its own new generation combat aircraft, the one that will become the current Rafale. At that point Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain continued with the program called European Fighter Aircraft (Efa) without however learning an important lesson: that the Paris Defense industry has always wanted to be the leader and owner of the projects.
More recently, last June, France and Germany had agreed to abandon the joint FCAS (Future Combat Aircraft System) project, after years of disputes between Dassault Aviation and Airbus regarding technical specifications and industrial control. This decision has left both countries without a clear successor for their respective fighter fleets, namely the Rafale and the Eurofighter, although Berlin has already started receiving the first F-35s ordered in 2022 to replace the aging Panavia Tornados.
The history of French fighters and the new model
41 years have passed and here is history repeating itself: after the irreconcilable argument between the German part of Airbus and Dassault over who should have the ownership rights on certain technologies of the FCAS program, here is France announcing that it will internally develop a sixth generation combat aircraft destined to succeed the Rafale. This was stated by the chief of staff of the French Air Force and Space, Jérôme Bellanger. They are not entirely wrong: from the point of view of the consortium of manufacturers, the EFA accumulated delays: on 27 March 1994 the first flight of the prototype took place, on 9 February 1996 the prototypes with the new Eurojet EJ200 engines took off and only in 2003 did the aircraft officially enter operational service: a total of 18 years.
Unfortunately, if this were also the case for the programs that have just started (the Gcap of the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan and the US NGAD), it would mean that we will not see the prototypes before 2044 instead of 2030. In any case, France is thinking of the future fighter with a new name: instead of FCAS it will call it ACF (Avion de Combat du FutuR), with the aim of making it operational by 2040.
He reported it himself Bellanger on Wednesday 14th during a hearing at the Defense commission of the National Assembly, using these words: «We are starting the work that will prepare and allow the birth of the ACF, a future combat aircraft. We remain open to possible collaborations with other countries, but within different frameworks that will not be structural for the birth of this aircraft. The years spent working on the FCAS project were not wasted”, he underlined Bellangerhighlighting progress made in areas such as aircraft development, drones, stealth technology, connectivity and the “combat cloud”.
However, take advantage of the experience gained with Airbus
The work had been divided into several pillars, including the development of a new engine; Dassault and Airbus had specifically focused on the next-generation fighter pillar, which constitutes the heart of the entire system. «The interruption of the FCAS program does not mean that we will throw everything away» he concluded Bellanger«our industrial teams are working on the next generation air system, anti-radar technologies, combat cloud and more. All this will allow us to continue, in this phase, on a national basis, while at the same time focusing on an aspect of fundamental importance: interoperability with current systems”.
The CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappierstated that his company and France have all the knowledge and skills necessary to develop a new generation fighter, making use of the collaboration of Safran for the engines and Thales for the electronics, and that the project could be carried out for less than 50 billion euros. In the end, Bellanger in his speech he said something cryptic: «France must continue to collaborate with Germany and other countries on the combat cloud, as interoperability between European manned platforms will be vital. The objective is to overcome the idea of a war fought side by side to move on to a concept in which we fight together.”
Because France can build a fighter on its own
Certainly the French strengths are undeniable: like us Italians and the English they have a stake in MBDA, a company that produces missiles; they have experience with digitally controlled flight controls (so much so that they have borrowed it from the Rafale to the Falcon civil aircraft) and finally they keep the experience alive in the field of advanced aerodynamics. Finally, they can count on the production of modern turbofan engines on their national territory.
As for the technical and specific characteristics of the new aircraft, the successor to the Rafale will have to be able to carry the hypersonic cruise missile with a nuclear warhead Asn4g by 2050 and this implies that it will have to be operational in 2040 for conventional missions. Continuing with a national program will allow France to meet the crucial deadlines for nuclear deterrence by 2040. According to the senior officer, by 2035 France will have to have the F5 version of the Rafale which will integrate the first elements of the future combat aircraft, in particular as regards propulsion, sensors and the Stratus-rs missile, intended to neutralize enemy air defenses.
Regarding the Gcap project, interviewed by Defense News, Bellanger he observed that ours would be a different type of aircraft, almost a strategic bomber. And that in any case within the consortium in which there are English, Japanese and Italians it wouldn’t be all “roses and flowers”. It will be necessary to prove him otherwise.
