France and Germany have awarded the first-ever contract – a Joint Concept Study (JCS) – to Dassault Aviation and Airbus for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme. The launch of the JCS was announced by the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, and her German counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen, at a meeting yesterday in Paris.

The German navy stands ready to deploy its ships to the Black Sea, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday in a statement.