PARIS (Reuters) – Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, on Monday put into perspective the announcement on Friday of agreements at governmental and industrial levels for the launch of the next phase of development of the future combat aircraft SCAF (system of air combat of the future ).
“There’s a political pseudo-announcement that was made. I think the German clearances – which were difficult to get – came out and that resulted in leaks. It’s not quite done yet,” he said on RTL.
“Before the hour is not quite the hour,” he added.
For the moment, no agreement has yet been signed between the industrial groups Dassault and Airbus, specified Eric Trappier, suggesting that it was not guaranteed that the signature would take place within the week.
Even if “it has progressed”, the CEO of Dassault Aviation warned that “we are at the very beginning of the process” because it is only a question for the moment of agreeing on the carrying out of studies. “There are other steps behind that will have to come, fly a demonstrator and then launch a development program,” he explained.
Berlin said on Friday that France, Germany and Spain had reached an agreement for the launch of the next phase of development of the future SCAF combat aircraft, the largest European defense project at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros.
Launched in 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a time when the European Union was weakened by the decision of the British to leave the Community bloc and by the migrant crisis, this project has since been the source of recurring tensions between France and Germany.
(Written by Myriam Rivet, edited by Bertrand Boucey)
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