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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Airbus presses Dassault for decision following fighter tensions
PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus ( opens new tab challenged its partner Dassault Aviation ( opens new tab on Wednesday to "decide what it wants to do" after Dassault questioned arrangements for a new fighter, in the latest sign of tensions over the Franco-German-Spanish project. Dassault and Airbus, two industry rivals called on to work together after French President Emmanuel Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched the Future Combat Air System (SCAF) initiative in 2017, have sparred repeatedly over the running of the project to replace current warplanes by 2040. Last week, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier called for clearer leadership of the project and accused Airbus of causing delays by interfering in the core crewed fighter part of the project known as Pillar One, which is led by Dassault. Dassault represents France and Airbus is the anchor for Germany and Spain in the project, which is currently in the early design stage known as Phase 1B, with plans to launch a second phase next year aimed at building a demonstrator. "There is an agreed governance for the launch of Phase 1B; we are in this governance," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters at a mid-year results briefing on Wednesday. "If in one pillar there is one industrial partner that is not happy with the governance, they need to decide what they want to do and I leave it to them," he said. "But when it comes to Airbus, we intend to continue to serve the countries and the ministries of defence that have contracted us for Phase 1B, and we intend to continue on the programme. So when it comes to Airbus, we keep going." Dassault could not immediately be reached for comment. Rising tensions have prompted concerns that the project could fall apart, echoing France's decision to quit the Eurofighter project in the 1980s and develop what became the Rafale, though it still has significant political support. Asked last week if Dassault was threatening to leave the current project, widely known by its French initials SCAF, Trappier said the programme's wider future was at stake. "It is not a question of leaving SCAF but of deciding if it continues or not," he said. He denied reports that Dassault was seeking 80% control. Under the current framework, the three nations have an equal share of the broader project, but Airbus covers two-thirds since it represents both Germany and Spain. Each company also has day-to-day leadership of specific parts of the project, which includes a connected system of drones teamed with each fighter. Germany's defence minister Boris Pistorius said after meeting his French counterpart last week that Germany and France would seek to clarify the situation by the end of the year, Defense News reported.
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Dassault, in spat with Airbus, says European fighter jet project at risk
PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) - French warplane maker Dassault Aviation ( opens new tab raised questions over the future of a Franco-German-Spanish fighter jet project on Tuesday in a growing feud with Europe's Airbus ( opens new tab over control of the futuristic program that combines traditional warplanes with automated drones. CEO Eric Trappier said the Future Combat Air System, widely known under its French initials SCAF, needed clearer leadership and organisation as partners move towards a second phase that calls for a flying model to prove its cutting-edge technology. SCAF is one of several so-called sixth-generation fighter projects expected to combine traditional crewed warplanes with a cohort of uncrewed and armed drones. Britain is working on a similar proposal with Italy and Japan known as GCAP. Dassault, which builds France's Rafale warplanes, is in charge of efforts to come up with designs for the core fighter, one of several "pillars" in the hugely complex SCAF project. Trappier said that in practice, decisions over key parts of the current design phase were having to be cleared with Airbus, adding complexity and contributing to delays. "They say Dassault is the leader but that all decisions must be taken between three (countries)," Trappier said at a half-yearly earnings conference. Airbus, which represents both Germany and Spain in the project with Dassault backed by France, declined comment. Asked if Dassault was threatening to leave the SCAF project, Trappier indicated the programme's wider future was at stake. "It is not a question of leaving SCAF but of deciding if it continues or not," he said. However, he strongly denied reports that Dassault was seeking 80% control. Dassault and Airbus, two historic European industry rivals called on to work together after French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched the initiative in 2017, have squabbled repeatedly over handling of the project to replace current warplanes by 2040. The latest comments came on the eve of a Berlin summit between Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that are expected to touch on the status of the defence project, according to a French presidential adviser and industry sources. Airbus Defence & Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn told the Paris Air Forum last month that governance had been agreed and that Airbus, a leading partner in the Eurofighter Typhoon, had a history of successful cooperation with other defence firms.
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Dassault Aviation CEO raises possibility of leaving FCAS fighter jet programme
PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) - The head of French warplane maker Dassault Aviation ( opens new tab called for clearer leadership and organisation of the SCAF/FCAS fighter programme and raised the possibility of leaving the Franco-German-Spanish project if an agreement could not be reached. CEO Eric Trappier, speaking at an earnings conference, however denied reports that Dassault was seeking 80% control of the programme that it is developing alongside Europe's Airbus. ( opens new tab He said that "it is not question of leaving SCAF but of deciding if we continue or not". Airbus declined comment.
Reuters
13-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Ex-Airbus boss urges fast European push to build armed robots
PARIS, March 13 (Reuters) - The former head of Airbus has urged Europe to shift attention for now from major arms projects to nimble new technologies like robotic drones to demonstrate to Moscow and Washington that it can make a difference to its security by the end of the decade. Former CEO Tom Enders, who led Europe's top aerospace group through some of its biggest funding battles, said planned new warplanes would play a key role in coming decades but that the immediate lessons from Ukraine required greater agility. "We are there is maybe a window of three to five years before Putin might test (NATO) Article 5 in the Baltic States or elsewhere. So we have a certain time pressure," Enders told Reuters in a rare interview since leaving Airbus in 2019. "We want to deter the enemy but what can we do to strengthen that in three to five years? It is certainly not by the FCAS (fighter) programme, not by developing a new Franco-German tank. That all comes too late. We need to reactivate or increase existing production lines and we need to introduce these new intelligent systems as the Ukraine war has been teaching us." He added: "First and foremost, we need to really maximize the value of robots on the battlefield, particularly drones." The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), also known by its French abbreviation SCAF, is an effort by France, Germany and Spain to replace Rafale and Eurofighter jets in the 2040s, with Airbus ( opens new tab and Dassault Aviation ( opens new tab heading the work. The war in Ukraine has been characterised by unprecedented deployments of thousands of drones, helping Kyiv to temper the numerical advantage of Russian forces that invaded in 2022 and giving a sharp boost to the country's own defence industry. "It's happening right the Ukrainian battlefield. You can leapfrog these old systems if you focus on autonomous systems, robots, sensors and particularly drones," Enders said. EAST AND WEST Enders, who heads the German Council on Foreign Relations and is widely seen as a prominent Atlanticist in business, said the rift between Europe and Washington was the most serious since NATO was born in 1949 and should be a final wake-up call. "The U.S. voting with China and Russia against its long-term allies in the UN Security Council: what else does it take?" He said Europe had been wrong to consider Donald Trump's first presidency as an "aberration" in the long-standing transatlantic relationship, and that instead Joe Biden's single term seemed the exception to a shift of focus away from Europe. "Now we're facing a world where we have opponents as Europeans on two fronts in the East and in the West, and God knows how to classify China in this," Enders said. Enders said the European defence industry would in future be a mix between the big platform makers and risk-taking newcomers. His comments contrast with calls by some politicians to give more impetus to existing flagship projects like SCAF in response to the prospect that Washington will cancel security guarantees. The former Airbus CEO, who is also a board member of German technology startup Helsing, has co-authored a white paper calling for an immediate push into cutting-edge technology like robotics, AI and hypersonics, to be developed within Europe. Signatories to the 3-5 year view also include current Airbus Chairman Rene Obermann, taking part in a personal capacity. Enders said more money was now flowing into defence from the private sector after years in which many of Europe's banks and funds had shied away from defence for ethical investing reasons. "Even big banks are now interested in investing in defence and that is necessary to speed up the effectiveness of our armed forces and our deterrence. I'm taking these three to five years very seriously. In this crazy world, anything can happen."
