Is Scaf’s future threatened? Although relations between France and Germany are far from good, Berlin could abandon its participation in the project of the first European fighter aircraft in favor of a competitive program with Great Britain, according to the British newspaper The Times. Information that, if confirmed, would be synonymous with a huge disapproval towards Paris and a hard blow for Scaf.
Launched in 2017 to replace the French Rafale and German and Spanish Eurofighter fighter jets, the Franco-German-Spanish program – expanded in June to Belgium – was presented by some analysts as the most important defense project in Europe. Scaf, scheduled for 2040, has already experienced numerous delays, reflecting tensions between French and German interests.
financial well
The Times thus mentions German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fear that the project could become, according to close sources, a financial sinkhole. Berlin has already spent more than 40 billion euros on a program whose operational phase is struggling to materialize. Especially since the progress of the US Air Force and Navy, which plans to put into operation a new model of the latest generation aircraft by 2030, does not reassure Angela Merkel’s successor.
In the UK, BAE Systems and Rolls Royce are leading the development of a stealth fighter known as Tempest, which is expected to be ready in 2035 and will form the backbone of a wider British-Italian-Japanese aerospace alliance. Olaf Scholz would see no point in having two competing European projects, the British newspaper reports, citing a senior German official. He would like to merge the two or, failing that, leave Scaf and join Tempest.
To show her credentials to London, the German chancellor would agree to lift Berlin’s veto on the delivery of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
Preferential Treatment
Olaf Scholz would also be exasperated by the preferential treatment that France gave its own aerospace companies in the initial phases of the Scaf program.
The Times revelations could aggravate friction between France and Germany. If relations between Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel were warm and cold, we are approaching the volcano since Olaf Scholz came to power in December 2021. The topics of agreement are increasingly rare, Paris and Berlin now seem like opposite poles in their vision of Europe. Even possibly reviewing projects that have matured for several years.
Source: BFM TV
