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Europe
Italian Air Force Boss Wants Merger Of Europe’s Combat Aircraft Programs
2021-11-25
by Thomas Nedwick
Yes, yes. They all want to merge to form a European military, thinking that will mean someone else spends the money and the blood, while they preen and pose in their fancy new uniforms.
[TheDrive] The chief of the Italian Air Force has predicted the merger of Western Europe’s two leading next-generation combat aircraft programs since he doesn’t think there are enough resources to sustain them both. The two competing programs are the British-led Tempest, a mock-up of which is seen in the image below, and which involves Italy, and the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) pursued by France, Germany, and Spain.
Ah. He doesn’t mean merge, he means pick one project and cancel the other. Naturally he assumes the one picked will be the one Italy prefers, as opposed to the one preferred by those who always win by dint of having the largest economies and populations.
"It is natural that these two realities will merge into one," General Luca Goretti, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, told members of the country’s parliamentary defense committees today, according to a report from Reuters. "Investing huge financial resources in two equivalent programs is unthinkable." This is by no means the first time that calls have been made to bring the two initiatives together, even just in Italy, reflecting the limited pool of partners available.

Currently, BAE Systems is heading up the Tempest program, which aims to field a sixth-generation “system of systems” air combat capability, with a new stealthy six-generation fighter as its centerpiece. Team Tempest also includes Italian defense contractor Leonardo, European missile consortium MBDA, British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, and the British Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as numerous other high-tech companies. Sweden is also on board as an international partner, with Japan potentially waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, FCAS is being led by Dassault Aviation of France, with Airbus of Germany in a supporting role. This effort also includes plans for a stealth fighter jet, or Next Generation Fighter (NGF), together with various unmanned systems and air-launched weapons. While the French and Germans are leading the FCAS effort, the Spanish Ministry of Defense has also joined the partnership.

Both programs aim to have the manned fighter component of the planned system of systems in service sometime between 2030 and 2040.

According to the same Reuters report, Goretti told officials that Italy made the decision to join the Tempest program “because it felt it could play a bigger role [in it] than in the FCAS program.” That could well reflect the perceived dominance of Dassault and Airbus in FCAS, as well as the fact that Leonardo already has strong ties with the United Kingdom on the industrial side, including leading radar development for the Eurofighter Typhoon in its U.K. facility. The Eurofighter consortium also includes BAE Systems and Airbus.

However, Goretti also made the case for Italy serving as “a bridge” between NATO and Western European nations that are increasingly looking toward options for collaboration on the continent, rather than necessarily under the Alliance’s auspices.

Goretti’s argument for the eventual fusion of Tempest and FCAS is explained by the fact both are still in their “conceptual phase,” with different countries still defining their requirements. With that in mind, Goretti considers the reverse of the Eurofighter program might be possible — back in the early 1980s, France split off from the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain to build the rival Dassault Rafale instead.

Another European air chief, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe, previously made efforts to bring the two rival programs together, by speaking with his Italian and British counterparts. “It can be that we go on different tracks,” Gerhartz told Defense News earlier this year. “Hopefully we will merge eventually.”

Key industry figures involved with Tempest have been lukewarm on the idea of a merger with FCAS. At the same time, Dirk Hoke, the former CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, had previously argued that Europe “can’t afford two new systems.” Hoke's statement may well be true, with genuine concerns persisting over whether European powers will actually be able to pay for two competing stealth jet programs.
Read the rest at the link, including a mock up of the new bird
Posted by:badanov

#1  Well, as the Brits become less "engaged" (Brexit and whatnot), the Italians are wondering how to switch gravy trains by promoting the "McDonnell- Douglas solution".
Posted by: ed in texas   2021-11-25 10:21  

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