France, Germany, and Spain are looking to define the nature of the first tranche of capabilities and platforms to be developed for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien Futur (SCAF) programme as they prepare to launch the demonstrator phase in the coming weeks.
A full-scale mock-up of the New Generation Fighter concept was showcased by Dassault on the opening day of the Paris Air Show. (IHS Markit/Gareth Jennings)
Speaking at the IQPC International Fighter Conference in Berlin on 12 November, Major General Jean-Pascal Breton, French programme lead FCAS/SCAF, said that with the first tranche (or first pillar, as it is also known) of the upcoming demonstrator phase covering the New Generation Fighter (NGF) aircraft, Remote Carrier (RC) unmanned wingmen, and the networked Air Combat Cloud (ACC), the partners are evaluating a number of potential configurations for the manned fighter and its accompanying ‘loyal wingmen’.
“We have three NGF and as many as 10 RC concepts that we are looking at,” Gen Breton said, adding that the issues being explored cover questions of a single- or twin-seat for the manned fighter, down to the roles and capabilities of the RCs.
“For France, single- or twin-seat is a very difficult question as we have the twin-seat [Rafale] B for the nuclear deterrence mission. Key [political and ethical] questions need answering around this mission [before we can decide on a configuration for the NGF],” he said. For the RCs, the concepts include light/heavy/fast/slow/attritable/armed/NGF-or transport aircraft launched/etc.
As noted by Gen Breton, these are the primary issues being explored as the partners prepare for the launch of the demonstrator phase of the programme in early 2020.
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