ILA 2018: Governments approve Franco-German future fighter, outline other co-operative defence projects

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The German and French governments have given their respective industries the go-ahead to develop a new fighter aircraft to strengthen bi-lateral defence co-operation and to ensure continued operational sovereignty.
An artist's impression of what the future fighter to be developed under the wider FCAS project might look like.Photo by: Airbus DS
The approval, which was announced by the defence ministers of both countries during a ceremony at the ILA Airshow in Berlin on 26 April, gave the official governmental green light for work to commence on developing a fighter aircraft as part of a wider Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project that will comprise a range of new airborne weapons and unmanned systems.
Announced by Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen and France’s Florence Parly, the approval to commence work came just a day after the two primary aerospace manufacturers for the respective nations – Airbus and Dassault – said that they had agreed the terms for co-development of the new fighter.
janes.com