PARIS (Reuters) -France has struck a contract for the next-stage development of the FCAS European fighter jet programme with the companies Dassault Aviation, Airbus, Indra and Eumet, the French Armed Forces Ministry said on Thursday.
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS), first announced in 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is designed to replace the Eurofighter and Dassault's Rafale with a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft from 2040.
France said the first tranche of this contract was worth more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion). The Eumet company is a joint venture between Safran (EPA:SAF) and MTU Aero Engines.
Spanish company Indra said in a separate statement that it would get more than 600 million euros ($637.80 million) as part of the technological development phase of the programme.
Indra added the contract would create 400 new jobs at Indra and more than 1,000 jobs in Spain overall.
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