Phase 1B of Europe’s Future Combat Air System Officially Launched

Phase 1B will allow continuation of flying demonstrators and cutting-edge technology development and maturation as well as project architectures consolidation, with in-flight demonstrations targeted for 2028-2029 By DA Staff / 20 Dec 2022

Discover Leading Defense Technology Solutions

Discover cutting-edge solutions from leading global suppliers
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
europes-future-combat-air-system
Follow DA

The French General Directorate for Armament (DGA) has awarded Dassault Aviation, Airbus, Indra, Eumet and their industrial partners the contract for the Demonstrator Phase 1B of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS). 

Awarded on behalf of the governments of France, Germany and Spain, this €3.2 billion contract will cover work on the FCAS demonstrator and its components for approximately three and a half years.

According to the companies, this is a major step forward that reflects the determination of France, Germany and Spain to develop a powerful, innovative and fully European weapon system to meet the operational needs of the countries’ armed forces.

This contract notification comes after the signing of the industrial agreements supporting the demonstrator Phase 1B by Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Indra and Eumet as prime contractors of the program and by their industrial partners from the three nations. The companies believe that discussions held over the last months have enabled the creation of a solid basis for cooperation between industry and the three governments.

This continues the successful Phase 1A demonstrators’ related R&T work and development activities, which enabled the identification of key technologies and the launch of the demonstrators’ developments. 

Paving the way for the development phase of the program, this demonstration phase 1B will allow continuation of flying demonstrators and required cutting-edge technology development and maturation as well as project architectures consolidation, with in-flight demonstrations targeted in the next phases by 2028-2029.

The program is made up of a set of systems: New Generation Fighters teaming with Remote Carriers and connected through a Combat Cloud. In order to meet the ambitions and challenges of such a program, an adapted and efficient industrial organization has been set-up and built around technological pillars. Each pillar is under the leadership of an industrial champion acting as prime, working in close cooperation with its main partners and leveraging each nation’s aeronautical industrial ecosystems.

In addition to their prime role per pillar, Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Indra act as national coordinators to ensure the overall coherence of the demonstrators and the overall program’s steering and work consolidation.

The industrial governance of the Phase 1B is organized per domain as follows:

  • NGWS Consistency, Demonstrations and Consolidation with Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Indra Sistemas as co-contracting partners
  • New Generation Fighter (NGF), with Dassault Aviation for France as prime contractor, and Airbus as main partner for Germany and Spain
  • NGF Engine with the 50/50 Joint Venture Eumet -between Safran Aircraft Engines for France and MTU Aero Engines for Germany- as prime contractor and ITP Aero for Spain as main partner
  • Unmanned systems, Remote Carrier (RC) with Airbus for Germany as prime contractor, MBDA for France and Satnus for Spain as main partners
  • Combat Cloud (CC) with Airbus for Germany as prime contractor, Thales for France and Indra Sistemas for Spain as main partners
  • Simulation with Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Indra Sistemas as co-contracting partners
  • Sensors with Indra Sistemas as prime for Spain, and Thales for France and FCMS for Germany as main partners
  • Enhanced Low Observability (stealth) with Airbus as prime contractor for Spain, Dassault Aviation for France and Airbus for Germany as main partners
  • Common Working Environment with Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Indra Sistemas and Eumet as co-contracting partners
Posted by DA Staff Connect & Contact

Latest Articles

AI-Powered Mission Planning & Target Recognition Software Selected for Long-Range Loitering Munitions

Teledyne FLIR OEM's Prism Supervisor and Prism SKR software is being integrated into Dragoon Technology's UAS under the DIU's Project Artemis

May 22, 2025
GA-ASI Begins Ground Testing of Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft

GA-ASI has begun ground testing of its YFQ-42A uncrewed jet for the U.S. Air Force’s CCA program, targeting a summer 2025 first flight as part of next-generation combat aviation efforts

May 22, 2025
Support Equipment Solutions for Military Aviation & Aerospace

Defense Advancement showcases WilliamsRDM's support equipment design and manufacturing for military aviation and aerospace programs

May 22, 2025
New Hybrid Solution for Long-Term GNSS-Denied Navigation

Advanced Navigation has demonstrated a major breakthrough with a Hybrid Navigation System designed for GPS-denied environments, combining a strategic-grade FOG INS with a laser velocity sensor

May 21, 2025
New muLTElink Features Improve Command & Control for UAS

uAvionix’s latest muLTElink software update enhances UAS connectivity with automated link management, improving resilience, reliability, and cost-efficiency in complex operations

May 21, 2025
Honeywell Unveils Resilient INS with Anti-Jamming Technology

Honeywell has launched its new HGuide o480 INS, delivering precise, resilient navigation with anti-jamming technology for compact unmanned systems operating in GPS-denied or contested environments

May 21, 2025

Featured Content

New Line of Kinetic-Capable Unmanned Surface Vessels Introduced

Red Cat Holdings enters the maritime autonomy market with a new line of combat-proven USVs, expanding its multi-domain unmanned systems for naval operations

May 20, 2025
Next-Gen Group 2 UAS Enters Production with Extended Endurance & Upgrades

Aurora Flight Sciences upgrades the SKIRON-X Group 2 UAS with greater versatility and tactical mission endurance, as well as announcing the hydrogen-powered SKIRON-XLE variant

May 13, 2025
Discover ANELLO’s SiPhOG™ for GNSS-Denied Navigation at XPO25

CEO of ANELLO Photonics, Dr. Mario Paniccia, will present at Xponential 2025 on the company's SiPhOG-based inertial navigation technology in GPS-denied and GNSS-contested environments.

May 09, 2025
Advancing Defense Capability Through Strategic Collaboration Defense Advancement works with major OEMs to foster collaboration and increase engagement with SMEs, to accelerate innovation and drive defense capabilities forward.