What future combat aircraft comes after the Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale? This is the €65,000 question now occupying minds all across the European aerospace and defence sector and which has recently been summarised (with dire warnings for inaction) in a report from the European Defence Agency (EDA) (see page 22). Though these fighters are still comparatively young (and the Rafale in particular is basking in the glow of its recent Indian order), the EDA is concerned that there is a yawning chasm opening up where future programmes should be. The rise of unmanned systems, issues of sovereignty and pressure on defence and REtD budgets has also complicated the challenges in the post-Cold War world.
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