“In December 2023, we will sign the observer agreement (…). In June 2025, Belgium will officially integrate the Next Generation Weapon System/Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program.” This statement, delivered during a meeting of the BSDI (Belgian Security and Defense Industry) and published on the LinkedIn network by Ludivine Dedonder, Belgian Minister of Defence, reveals Brussels’ intention not to settle for a folding seat in the Scaf program ( future air combat system) led by France, Germany and Spain.
Beyond this ambition, the Belgian minister has advanced according to a schedule that none of the project member countries seems to know. We asked the question to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which said it had discovered it.
And rightly so, although observer status was granted last June, no precise date had been indicated and Belgium’s entry as a full partner has not (yet) been considered. Especially since Ludivine Dedonder does not specify the role of the Belgian industrialists, nor what actions they could obtain and even less the budget that will be assigned to them. The cost of the program is estimated at 100 billion euros, distributed equally between the three countries.
What can Belgium contribute?
The industrial distribution between France, Germany and Spain has already been the subject of tough negotiations that lasted three years to find out who would do what. Dassault Aviation was awarded the role of prime contractor for the NGF aircraft at the heart of the project, while Airbus Defense and Space manages the drone part and, with Spain’s Indra, the combat cloud. At the same time, Dassault and Airbus will upgrade their aircraft, the Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon, to make them compatible with the future air combat system.
What can Belgium contribute as an observer? For Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, the roles are already distributed. A new actor risks delaying the program that must be underway in 2040 and diluting once again the weight of France in the program with industrial consequences for the actors already involved.
A clear attack on the Belgian contract for the purchase of 34 American F-35s to the detriment of the European Rafale or Eurofighter aircraft.
In June at the Paris Air Show, Bruno Fichefeux, then Airbus program director, told BFM Business that manufacturers will have to “see if we find a win-win balance that does not jeopardize the one achieved so far.” here “. In an interview with La Tribune published on November 10, his successor, Jean-Brice Dumont, considered that Belgium should “declare its intentions, which will then have to be discussed with the other three countries.”
Save Belgian industry
The Belgian minister does not mention any of this, but promises its manufacturers active participation with economic benefits. The message was heard loud and clear by Stéphane Burton, CEO of the Orizio Group, who hopes that participation in the program could be “the new deal of the century.”
This is what Belgian manufacturers, in particular BeLightning (a joint venture formed by Asco Industries, Sabca and Sonaca) already expected with the F-35. Its participation in the production of the American aircraft only contributed 700 million euros instead of the 3.69 billion euros promised by former Economy Minister Kris Peeters, or less than 20% of the expected amount. In 2020, Thibauld Jongen, CEO of SABCA, recalled this error in the Belgian economic title, The echo.
Meanwhile, the decision will be up to Scaf’s three partner countries. Will they pressure Dassault and Airbus to reduce the bill, the amount of which could approach €100 billion at a time when military budgets are under pressure since the war in Ukraine and a major conflict is feared?
Source: BFM TV
