MBDA welcomes industrial agreement finalized to prepare Future Combat Air System

Aviation Defense News December 2022
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Following the first phases of the FCAS (SCAF, in French) work, the signing of this agreement is a change in scale for this programme and lays the foundations for a large-scale European industrial partnership.

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MBDA welcomes industrial agreement finalized to prepare Future Combat Air System 1 Remote Carriers will force adversaries to reveal themselves, will disrupt them, confuse them and/or saturate them to finally neutralize the threats they pose, which continue to become ever more effective  (Picture source: MBDA)

Phase 1B is primarily a phase of technological maturation. In co-operation with its partners, Airbus Defense and Space GmbH and the Spanish consortium SATNUS, MBDA will design ‘Remote Carrier’ demonstrators and conduct experiments in connected collaborative combat, both simulated and in-flight. In particular, MBDA will be responsible for the demonstrator of Remote Carriers that can be launched from combat aircraft.

The Future Combat Air System is much more than an aircraft: it is a system of systems capable of collaborative air combat. FCAS and its associated technological innovations will bring a revolution in the concepts of operations. The FCAS will consist of a Next-Generation Weapon System (NGWS) as well as other air assets in the future operational battlespace. The NGWS's components will be remote carrier vehicles (swarming drones) as well as a New Generation Fighter (NGF) - a sixth-generation jet fighter that by around 2040 will replace current France's Rafales, Germany's Typhoons and Spain's EF-18 Hornets.

As the leader in effects management, MBDA will principally develop new effectors, the Remote Carriers. They are multipliers of the tactical options available to our armed forces. Remote Carriers will force adversaries to reveal themselves, will disrupt them, confuse them and/or saturate them to finally neutralize the threats they pose, which continue to become ever more effective. Capable of operating in packs or individually, the Remote Carriers will cover all areas of combat, from air combat, to maritime operations, and ground strikes.