Belgium joins the European SCAF fighter aircraft program

It’s official, Belgium joins the European SCAF fighter aircraft program according to a statement from Emmanuel Macron.

For the moment, Belgium will be admitted as an observer in the complex Future Air Combat System (Scaf) program, developed by France, Germany and Spain, the Head of State said on Monday.

“This is an important development,” he said closing a ministerial conference on Europe’s air defense. “This expansion will further anchor this project in Europe at the heart of tomorrow’s air defense.”

“No nation alone is capable of financing this type of project”

In BFM Business this Monday, Bruno Fichefeux, the director of the Airbus program had thus evoked “a change of logic because the Belgians have always bought American until now”.

In a more general way, the industrialist justifies this necessary cooperation between countries due to the problem of colossal costs, Europe having “a lot to do with the Americans or the Chinese”.

“No nation alone is capable of financing this type of project, hence the need for cooperation to be able to pool defense budgets, to work together around a project in which, with more partners, we can finance any of these ambitions”.

At the end of May, Dassault Aviation boss Eric Trappier said he was opposed to extending the program to other countries, fearing further difficulties in the division of tasks between manufacturers.

For his part, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, considered it necessary “to ask the question (…) whenever it is of industrial and military interest.” He had justified it in particular by the need to reduce the costs of a project estimated at around 100 billion euros, according to experts.

expected in 2040

The SCAF should enter service in 2040, but it has already experienced many delays.

Launched in 2017 to replace the French Rafale fighter jets and the German and Spanish Eurofighter, the project was the subject of a long blockade last year due to friction between the French Dassault Aviation and the European giant Airbus, pillars of this supported project. for the three countries. .

This blockade ended on December 1, 2022 after intense political pressure, with the conclusion of an agreement establishing the division of labor for this vast industrial program.