Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever castigated on Tuesday the abandonment of the development of the Scaf combat aircraft, a “stupid” decision illustrating in his eyes the “arrogance” of the main partners of the project, France and Germany: “I was extremely disappointed to read that France and Germany could not agree on the development (of this project). What a waste of time, what arrogance! “, he denounced, during a conference organized by the think tank Friends of Europe on the theme of the single market.
Against a backdrop of the Russian threat and the disengagement of the American partner, it is essential for European countries to consider their defense collectively, with common projects, particularly in air defense, explained Mr. De Wever. “To think that you can develop a combat aircraft alone, or do it more quickly alone, is simply ignoring reality. “It’s pure stupidity,” insisted the Flemish conservative leader.
“Very bad news” according to Spain
Spain also commented on the formalization of the ruling, saying that it was “very bad news, very worrying for the strategic autonomy of Europe”, according to the Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, deploring this ” “failure”. “We put the interests of industry before the interests of security and defense of Europe,” continued Ms. Robles: “On the side of Spain, we will do everything possible to ensure that this project finds another path.”
The stop seemed inevitable. The ax fell on Monday, when the German government announced that Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached a conclusion of disagreement between Airbus and Dassault Aviation on the construction of a joint combat aircraft. A statement which was then confirmed by the Élysée.
The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus shared on Tuesday its “disappointment” at the abandonment of the Franco-German Scaf combat aircraft plan, but the “broader story” of aeronautical cooperation between the two countries on certain aspects of the project “must continue”. Acknowledging not having “managed to come to an agreement with Dassault”, Mike Schoellhorn, boss of the Airbus Defense and Space branch, called for other aspects of the program to be continued because “the Scaf is much more than a simple combat aircraft”, during an aviation summit in Berlin.
Launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, joined by Spain two years later, the envisaged system was to include a plane and drones linked together by an innovative digital communication system, “a combat cloud”. Described as the Air Combat System of the Future – the variation of the acronym Scaf – it was supposed to constitute the backbone of the air power of the French and Germans from the 2040s. The Scaf was to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon in the long term in Germany and the Dassault Rafale in France.
