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The business of defense, October 15

Contracts · Combat aircraft

Two French Dassault Rafale’s fly in formation behind a KC-135 Stratotanker, from the 50th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 29, 2022.
Archive photograph · Two French Dassault Rafale’s fly in formation behind a KC-135 Stratotanker, from the 50th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 29, 2022. Staff Sgt. Ashley Sokolov / DVIDS Taken 2022-04-29. public-domain; reuse terms. The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

French air force chief says the Rafale successor will be a national program

Jérôme Bellanger told lawmakers the future fighter targets flying conventional missions in 2040, Defense News reported. The report gives no program budget or prime contractor.

France will develop its Rafale successor domestically, Defense News reported Thursday, after the joint project with Germany and Spain for a Future Combat Air System (FCAS) collapsed earlier this year.1 Air and Space Force Chief of Staff Jérôme Bellanger told the National Assembly's defense committee on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that France now conceives the aircraft, called ACF, as a national project. It targets flying conventional missions in 2040.1

France's air force chief says the Rafale successor must fly conventional missions in 2040

Need and target years Air and Space Force Chief of Staff Jérôme Bellanger gave the National Assembly's defense committee, Oct. 14, 2026

2035Rafale F5 standard needed, with the first components of the future combat aircraft (engine, sensors, Stratus RS missile)
2040Target for the ACF, the Rafale successor, to fly conventional missions
2050Successor will need to carry the ASN4G hypersonic nuclear cruise missile

Years are needs and targets as Bellanger stated them; the report gives no program budget or prime contractor.

Reported by Defense News, Oct. 15, 2026

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France and Germany agreed in June to scrap FCAS after years of wrangling over specifications and industrial control between Dassault and Airbus, according to Defense News. Defense News reported that the two companies had worked on the fighter pillar at the center of the system. Bellanger said the industrial teams' work on the fighter, stealth and the combat cloud "will allow us to continue at this stage on a national basis." Dassault CEO Éric Trappier has said his company and France, with engine partner Safran and electronics firm Thales, could develop a next-generation fighter for well under €50 billion, according to the report.1

Bellanger tied the schedule to nuclear deterrence, according to Defense News. The aircraft must carry the ASN4G hypersonic nuclear cruise missile in 2050, so it must fly in 2040 for conventional missions, he said.1

Bellanger said France remains open to possible cooperation with other countries, but "within different frameworks and which won't be structural to the birth of this aircraft," according to Defense News. He also said France must "absolutely continue" working with Germany and other countries on the combat cloud.1

The ACF's first components would go into the Rafale itself. Bellanger said France will need a Rafale F5 standard in 2035 incorporating components related to the engine, the sensors and the Stratus RS missile, according to Defense News.1

Sources (1)
  1. Defense News: France to go it alone on next-gen combat aircraft after FCAS collapse (Oct. 15, 2026) www.defensenews.com