Dassault chief reiterates demonstrator plan for Rafale-successor sixth-gen fighter
Eric Trappier says aircraft could be flying by 2031 provided development contract is received promptly.
Dassault Aviation chief executive Eric Trappier is still pushing to have a next-generation fighter demonstrator flying by 2031 in support of France’s emerging Avion de Combat du Futur (ACF) sixth-generation programme.
Although a formal requirement has yet to emerge, Paris is anxious to fill the gap left by the collapse earlier this year of the tri-national Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme with Germany and Spain.
In recent weeks, government and military officials have expressed their support for the ACF – future combat aircraft in English – which at this stage is envisaged as an all-French affair, albeit one potentially open to other countries.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the NBAA-BACE business aviation show in Las Vegas, Trappier lamented a decade lost to the FCAS programme without any tangible results.
“I’m really frustrated – we have been working for 10 years without anything flying,” he says. “Our engineers need to see a bird flying at our flight-test centre.”
Dassault was leading the New Generation Fighter (NGF) portion of the FCAS programme – a manned long-term replacement for its Rafale jet – and had been aiming to fly a demonstrator by 2029.
But Trappier is keen to replicate that process on the ACF: “I am pushing now to get a demonstrator,” he says.
“If we start now or at the beginning of 2027 it could be flying in 2031,” a timeframe he is “confident” of achieving. Trappier had in July outlined an ambition to fly a new demonstrator.
Rafale successor
Dassault has already begun internal studies based on the likely requirements of the ACF, which would replace the Rafale in both air force and naval service.
Because the fighter needs to be aircraft carrier-capable, Dassault is already liaising with ship builder Naval Group, which is developing the France Libre, the French navy’s next-generation carrier.
Although few details of the ACF have so far been disclosed, Trappier says it “will be smaller than we expected with the NGF”.
Additionally, as it will be a multi-role aircraft, “there will be a compromise between aerodynamics and stealth capabilities – a fighter still needs to remain a fighter”, he stresses.
Power will likely come from a further evolution of the Safran Aircraft Engines M88, beyond the T-Rex variant currently in development for the F5-standard Rafale. This raises thrust, with an afterburner, to around 21,000lbf (95kN), up from 17,000lbf currently.
Safran had been working with German partner MTU Aero Engines on a new powerplant for the NGF – with additional contribution from Spain’s ITP Aero – however it is unclear whether this consortium can persist following the FCAS collapse.
Should France commit to the ACF development, service entry would be around 2045, Trappier says.
Meanwhile, Dassault continues initial internal concept work on an uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) for the French armed forces, albeit that it has yet to receive a development contract.
Envisaged as an aircraft of more than 10t to serve as a ‘loyal wingman’ for the Rafale, the UCAV concept design is based on preliminary attributes from the French air force.
“These are the requirements we need to work with. Then the government will find a way of funding it,” he says.
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