Airbus CEO Tom Enders said today, June 15 that individual governments dictating suppliers or sites will not smoothen, rather restrict the developmental process of building the next-gen military combat jet.
According to him, the decision taken by Germany and France regarding developing a new Future Combat Air System marks a significant step in expanding the European defense cooperation.
His company agreed with Dassault Aviation on the project and have shared their respective roles. They as well addressed the issue and warned the governments not to interfere with the progression of the project.
Enders said to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper: I hope that European companies will insist that future multilateral programs have clear leadership structures and reasonable technical requirements and timetables. – Tom Enders, CEO Airbus
Enders further reminded that Airbus faced similar issues before. One such instance is the multi-nation program involving A400M military transport plane. Enders often voiced criticism by the way it was structured. The European Multinational took an additional 1.3 billion Euro or $1.5 billion as a charge on the critical Airbus European Fighter program in last February.
The joint venture of Airbus and Dassault aims for replacing present fighter jets by 2035-40. The well known Eurofighter Typhoon of Germany is built by Airbus, and a similar Rafale Jet of France is built by Dassault.
Germany is invited by Enders to show more boldness over European defense integration, pointing out concerns and defining the Germany military as ‘deplorable’ due to years of neglect. He visions that majority-rule decisions in European foreign policy should replace the present need for unanimous decisions.
According to him, Europe needs to be unified for safeguarding its interests. He cited ascending tensions with the USA, difficulties with Russia and China, and escalating issues within the EU itself. EU should prioritize security aspects more than budget debates, securing borders and developing a joint foreign and defense policy, he believes.
