Emmanuel Macron assures that the European fighter jet of the sixth generation is not “dead”
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz instructed their defense ministries on Friday to continue work on the controversial Franco-German FCAS fighter jet project, officials cited by Reuters said.
The two countries' plans to jointly develop a futuristic air combat system with Spain have hung in the balance amid a public dispute over control between Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain in the 100 billion euro ($116.85 billion) project.
“No, not at all,” Macron said when asked by a reporter if the FCAS project was “dead,” as representatives of the companies involved in the project had previously said. The French president said he had just discussed the matter with Merz on the sidelines of a summit of European Union leaders in Cyprus.
“I had a good talk this morning with the chancellor and I gave a mandate to our defense ministries to work concretely in several areas, on a range of different issues,” continued Emmanuel Macron. “Not only on the future fighter plane, but also on the various levers of cooperation between our countries,” the French leader emphasized.
A spokeswoman for the German government confirmed the discussion between the two leaders.
“The chancellor and president have asked defense ministers to continue work on various areas of cooperation and agree next steps. This work will be completed in the coming weeks,” the spokeswoman said.
Canceling the development of the European fighter jet would be an image blow to Macron
The defense ministers of Germany and France on Wednesday offered different timetables for a decision on the fighter jet project, with one saying the leaders of the two countries would decide soon and the other saying mediators had requested more time to discuss the matter.
The dispute centers on the management of the fighter jet centerpiece of plans to build an interconnected fleet of manned aircraft and armed drones under a common digital umbrella.
Insiders expected Germany and France to drop development of the joint fighter jet but continue cooperation on drones and the so-called “combat cloud,” the basic digital infrastructure that would allow data to be shared between planes, drones and other sensors such as ground-based radars.
But a withdrawal from the FCAS plan would be politically embarrassing for Macron, who has promoted it heavily as part of his campaign to encourage European autonomy, including at the European level, from the United States.
