German defense ministry seeks $5.3 billion for next FCAS research phase

COLOGNE, Germany – The German defense ministry has forwarded a request to lawmakers seeking approval for almost 4,5 billion euros, or $5.3 billion, that would pay for the country’s contributions to the next stage of the Future Combat Air System.

Lawmakers on the Bundestag’s Budget and Defense committees are scheduled to consider the request next week. It covers a collection of research and technology-development activities, collectively dubbed phases 1B and 2, between 2021 and 2027. During that time, officials want to begin regular test flights with a demonstrator, constructed under the auspices of France’s Dassault Aviation.

The spending request comes after France “categorically rejected” an intermediate “bridging phase” in the German-Franco-Spanish program, according to the justification package forwarded by the Finance Ministry. Berlin had floated such a scenario given that the coronavirus pandemic has delayed completion of a joint concept study as well as the ongoing development, known as phase 1A.

Germany’s share in research expenditures on the program’s seven “pillars” and the development of an initial demonstrator amounts to 3.3 billion euros. In addition, Berlin is on the hook for 450 million euros to cover government-furnished equipment, which officials have previously said could include access to aircraft engines and airfield time.

Notably, the defense ministry wants to create a separate pot of 750 million euros dedicated solely to national developments. The amount is meant to ensure German industry’s “eye-level participation” vis-a-vis their counterparts from France and Spain.

The FCAS national lead companies are Dassault for France, Airbus Defence and Space for Germany, and Indra for Spain.

The program includes a next-generation fighter aircraft to be supported by various types of drones and connected through a sophisticated communications infrastructure.

Defense officials describe Germany’s envisioned national spending plan as a necessity, given that the trinational program alone would fail to yield a usable weapon for any of the partner nations. The “product-heavy” fighter development, for example, includes too little consideration for satellite communications and multi-layered sensor integration, leading Germany to set up its own developments on those areas.

The same logic underlies plans for an avionics test bed, according to the written spending request to lawmakers. “Avionics technologies are a core sub-system for further development and risk mitigation of the operational product,” officials wrote, adding that those aspects are outside the scope of the trinational program

German officials also want to offset nationally what they consider insufficient attention to the fields of electronic warfare, mission planning, weapons interfaces, and the secure distribution of sensor data, according to the document.

The government here admits that the future budget for FCAS is anything but certain at this point. A fallback fund of 4,3 billion euros is in the works in the event that the defense budget alone is too small to carry the program in the years ahead.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

德国科隆——德国国防部已向立法者提交申请，寻求批准近 45 亿欧元（约合 53 亿美元）的资金，用于支付德国对未来作战空中系统下一阶段的贡献。

德国联邦议院预算委员会和国防委员会的议员们计划下周审议这项拨款申请。该申请涵盖一系列研发活动，统称为2021年至2027年间的1B阶段和2阶段。在此期间，官员们希望开始使用由法国达索航空公司建造的验证机进行定期试飞。

根据德国财政部提交的理由说明，此前法国“断然拒绝”了德法西合作项目中的中间“过渡阶段”方案。柏林方面曾提出这一方案，因为新冠疫情导致联合概念研究和正在进行的开发工作（即第一阶段A）的进度有所延误。

德国在该计划七大“支柱”的研究经费以及首个示范机的研发方面共计投入33亿欧元。此外，柏林还需承担4.5亿欧元用于购置政府提供的设备，官员此前曾表示，这些设备可能包括飞机发动机和机场使用权。

值得注意的是，德国国防部计划设立一个7.5亿欧元的专项基金，专门用于国内研发。这笔资金旨在确保德国工业界与法国和西班牙的同行享有“平等的参与机会”。

FCAS 各国的牵头公司分别是：法国的达索公司、德国的空中客车防务与航天公司以及西班牙的 Indra 公司。

该计划包括下一代战斗机，将由各种类型的无人机提供支持，并通过先进的通信基础设施连接起来。

国防官员称，鉴于仅靠三国合作项目无法为任何一个伙伴国提供可用的武器，德国设想的国家支出计划是必要的。例如，这种“以产品为主导”的战斗机研发模式对卫星通信和多层传感器集成考虑不足，因此德国在这些领域开展了自主研发。

根据提交给立法者的书面支出申请，建立航空电子设备测试平台的计划也遵循同样的逻辑。“航空电子技术是进一步开发和降低运行产品风险的核心子系统，”官员们写道，并补充说，这些方面超出了三国合作项目的范围。

根据该文件，德国官员还希望在国内弥补他们认为在电子战、任务规划、武器接口和传感器数据安全分发等领域重视不足的问题。

政府承认，目前未来空中作战系统（FCAS）的预算尚不明朗。政府正在筹划一项43亿欧元的备用基金，以防国防预算不足以支撑该项目未来几年的发展。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。