New Generation of European Fighter Jets To Be Produced By France, Germany, and Spain
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – France, Germany, and Spain will cooperate to produce the next generation of European fighter jets, according to European officials who met at the Paris air show Monday.
By 2040, the new line of jets being manufactured by Dassault Aviation and Airbus will be ready to replace the current generation of Eurofighter Typhoons, as well as reduce European dependence on American military support.
“It will shape Europe’s most decisive military air combat programme for the decades to come and turn out a strong move in constructing Europe’s sovereignty,” Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault, said of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) Monday.
The initiative follows remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel last year that the creation of a common European army is a necessary step towards Europe’s future as a unified civilization, “not [as] an army against NATO,” according to Merkel, but as “a good complement to NATO.”
The decision by America’s European allies comes amidst deep questions about the viability of the same, stirred by President Trump’s reluctance since his election to shoulder the lion’s share of the military outfit’s budget, as the US has traditionally done.