Germany, France and Spain said on Monday they had reached a deal over the next steps of the development of a new fighter jet, Europe's largest defence project at an estimated cost of more than USD 121.4 billion.

"A demonstrator of the future fighter aircraft will fly in 2027, paving the way for an operational aircraft in 2040," French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly said.

The FCAS system will be composed of the new generation fighter jet, remote carriers, unmanned aerial platforms and a communication network called "combat cloud" designed to achieve information dominance.

"The NGWS will be able to achieve operational superiority in highly contested environments," Parly and her German and Spanish counterparts said in a joint statement.

"The industrial organisation of the program has been set up appropriately to ensure the consistency and efficiency of the project, leveraging the best skills of each nation's industries within a balanced, broad and deep partnership," the statement said.

The Next Generation Weapon System (NGWS) is the innovative core of the Future Combat Air System, which will replace the French Rafale and the German-Spanish Eurofighter jets.

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