According to senior French officials, France and Germany have awarded a two-year, €65-million contract to Airbus Defence and Space and Dassault Aviation to define the general architecture, and the industrial organisation, of their nextgeneration combat aircraft on January 31, 2019. The contract kicks off work on the future combat air system formerly known as FCAS and now called Next-Generation Weapon System. The contract was awarded by France’s defence procurement agency, DGA, acting on behalf of both governments, to Airbus and Dassault as co-contractors. Its €65-million cost is split equally between both countries.