Germany-France fiasco around €100bn: Their leaders ditch Europe's 6th-generation fighter jet
The leaders of France and Germany have agreed to abandon the landmark project to develop and build a next-generation fighter jet, two German officials said on Monday, ending one of Europe's most ambitious defense programs.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the problematic project on the sidelines of last week's EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro and concluded there was no prospect of breaking the months-long deadlock, the officials said.
The failure to reach an agreement on the 100 billion euro ($116 billion) project underscores the difficulties Europe faces in rebuilding its military capability after decades of underinvestment.
The project, which centers on a fighter jet supported by drones and connected by a classified “combat cloud,” has been in doubt for months as the two sides have squabbled over specifications and control over running the program.
A European source briefed on the matter said the two sides are moving toward a face-saving solution in which the systems left outside the main fighter, such as the “combat cloud” made up of highly secure links, will keep the same name: the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS.
The compromise is mainly symbolic, as FCAS is a generic name for such systems and not specific to this plan, but officials sought a formula that would allow Macron to scrap the main fighter jet without having to declare the entire project dead.
Macron launched the project with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2017. His press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the international news agency said.
Macron and Merz have been trying for months to save the project and overcome differences between the main industrial partners: the European aerospace group Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain, and the French company Dassault Aviation.
In addition to disputes over control and technological specifications, the two sides had very different requirements for the fighter aircraft.
Merz has openly questioned whether Europe's development of a 6th-generation fighter still makes sense for his country's air force, and has stated that Germany does not need a nuclear-capable aircraft that can land on an aircraft carrier.
