BERLIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The aviation companies Airbus and Dassault Aviation officially announced a cooperation to build a new German-French fighter jet on Wednesday.
The two companies told press at the International Air and Space Show (ILA) in Berlin that a basic agreement had been signed towards this end. The new fighter jet is intended to succeed the "Eurofighter" and "Rafale" models currently used by the German and French armed forces respectively.
According to Airbus and Dassault, production of the next generation of European fighter jets would commence around the year 2040. "We are informing our ministers of defense and our political authorities: We are ready", a statement by Dassault chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Trappier read.
Rumors of a looming strategic cooperation in the defense sector by between Airbus and Dassault first surfaced in June 2017 when Berlin and Paris reached a first agreement on the joint-development of fighter jets for their increasingly closely-integrated armed forces. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) and her French counterpart Florence Parly are scheduled to visit the ILA together on Thursday.
Airbus has made a concrete offer to the German Ministry of Defense to replace its aging stock of "Tornado" jets which were developed during the 1960s with a new variant of its "Eurofighter" model. The "F-35" produced by the U.S. defense sector company Lockheed Martin is the main anticipated contender in a prospective public tender.
Having already sold the "F-35" to the militaries of Britain, Norway and Italy, Lockheed Martin is also present at the ILA in the hope of expanding the range of its European sales to Germany.
The German Ministry of Defense has emphasized that it has a preference for a European solution in replacing existing "Tornado" jets to keep technology which is sensitive to national security within the EU. Nevertheless, all bids, including those form the U.S. would be considered in a tender.
Having opened its gates on Wednesday, the ILA will showcase new developments in diverse areas of aviation technology including drones, flying taxis and rockets to an estimated 150,000 visitors over the course of five days. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is expected to be present for an official opening ceremony of the trade fair which features 1,100 exhibitors from 41 countries this year.
