Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30&nbsp;years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.

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The Dassault Group is developing a secure cloud system for defense applications such as the pan-European Next Generation Fighter (NGF) and the wider Future Combat Air System (FCAS). The secure distributed computer server collection&nbsp;is billed as a sovereign system for Europe&nbsp;and will build on the 3D Experience platform created by Dassault Systèmes.
But although the applications will stretch well beyond defense into commerce, industry, and public services, many will view the move as another challenge to Airbus on the FCAS project. After protracted negotiations last year, Dassault Aviation won confirmation&nbsp;as design leader for the NGF. But Airbus retained responsibility for connecting this sixth-generation fighter with other platforms suggested for the FCAS, such as drones, via a “combat cloud."
At a Paris Airshow press conference yesterday, Dassault Systèmes president and CEO Bernard Charles said that his company would leverage its world leadership position in virtual environments such as “digital twins” to create “the highest levels of security and collaboration on the cloud.”&nbsp;Dassault Systèmes developed CADCAM software sold to many aerospace and manufacturing companies. It has since developed cybersecurity systems branded “Outscale” that have also been sold widely.
Both Charles and Trappier stressed that Europe must develop alternatives to U.S. cloud initiatives. But although Charles spoke of the wider applications such as health care, they made repeated references to combat clouds, both in the press conference and in the associated press release. It said that the FCAS partners “will benefit from continuous software developments by Dassault Systèmes that deliver the latest capabilities in systems engineering, program management, design, simulation, and other disciplines."
Trappier told AIN that the French move would not “alter the balance of responsibilities” within FCAS. Dassault Aviation would apply the newly-developed capabilities to the airborne platforms, while Airbus works&nbsp;on other domains, such as maritime. And Airbus would define the rules for cooperation with U.S. combat cloud systems. Trappier said that engineers from all three FCAS countries (France, Germany, and Spain) met at&nbsp;Dassault Aviation’s St Cloud headquarters in Paris this week “to define the protocols.”

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