The Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS) is the innovative core of the Future Combat Air System, which will replace the French Rafale and the German-Spanish Eurofighter jets…reports Asian Lite News.
France, Germany and Spain have reached a deal over the next phases of the development of a new fighter jet project known as the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which the countries consider Europe’s “most important tool” to preserve its sovereignty and security amid “fast growing threats”.
“A demonstrator of the future fighter aircraft will fly in 2027, paving the way for an operational aircraft in 2040,” Xinhua news agency quoted French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly as saying here on Monday.
The Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS) is the innovative core of the Future Combat Air System, which will replace the French Rafale and the German-Spanish Eurofighter jets.
The FCAS system will be composed of the new generation fighter jet, remote carriers, unmanned aerial platforms and a communication network called “combat cloud” designed to achieve information dominance.
“The NGWS will be able to achieve operational superiority in highly contested environments,” Parly and her German and Spanish counterparts said in a joint statement.
“The industrial organisation of the program has been set up appropriately to ensure the consistency and efficiency of the project, leveraging the best skills of each nation’s industries within a balanced, broad and deep partnership,” the statement said.
France, Ukraine sign $1.5bn deal
The governments of Ukraine and France have signed four framework agreements worth over 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion), the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kiev reported.
The signing took place on Thursday during the official visit of French Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery Bruno Le Maire to Kiev, Xinhua news agency reported
The agreements provide for the supply of 130 Alstom electric locomotives to Ukraine worth up to 900 million euros with a production localization level of 35 per cent, and the supply of specialized rescue equipment worth up to 300 million euros.
In addition, the two countries intend to implement a project to improve water supply in more than 20 settlements of the Luhansk region and a project to improve water quality in certain districts of Kiev.
The cost of each project is estimated at 70 million euros.
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