Montenegro, Montenegro. The leaders of France and Germany have agreed to scrap a landmark project to develop and build a new-generation fighter jet, according to two German officials. The decision ends one of Europe’s most ambitious defence programmes after months of deadlock.
Decision reached at summit
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the troubled project on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro last week, the officials said. They concluded there was no prospect of breaking the impasse that had stalled the programme for months.
Project faced prolonged disputes
The €100-billion ($116 billion) project centred on a core fighter jet supported by drones and linked by a classified “combat cloud”. It had been in doubt for months as France and Germany disagreed over specifications and control.
Failure to reach an agreement highlights the difficulties Europe has faced in rebuilding military capacity after decades of underinvestment.
Possible retention of FCAS name
A European source briefed on the matter said the two sides were moving towards a face-saving solution under which the systems outside the core fighter, including the “combat cloud” of highly secure links, would retain the name Future Combat Air System, or FCAS.
The source said the compromise was mainly symbolic because FCAS is a generic name for such systems and is not unique to this plan. Officials have been seeking a formula that would allow Macron to relinquish the core fighter without declaring the entire project dead.
Industry and political tensions
Macron launched the project with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2017. His office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Macron and Merz had tried for months to salvage the programme and bridge differences between the main industry partners, European aerospace group Airbus AIR.PA, representing Germany and Spain, and France’s Dassault Aviation AM.PA.
Diverging military requirements
In addition to disputes over control and technological specifications, the two sides had widely differing requirements for the aircraft.
Merz has openly questioned whether developing a manned sixth-generation fighter jet still made sense for Germany’s air force. He has also said Germany did not need a nuclear-capable jet that could land on an aircraft carrier.
