A multibillion-euro Franco-German fighter jet project has collapsed after years of preparations, German government sources said on Monday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have come to the joint conclusion that Dassault and Airbus are unable to agree on the construction of the jet, the sources said.
Merz has therefore advised Macron not to pursue the construction of a joint fighter jet any further. However, the joint networking of different weapon systems, platforms or sensors in a so-called "combat cloud" is to be continued, meaning the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme is not completely off the table.
Years in the making
Then German chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron had given the go-ahead for the prestigious project in July 2017.
However, Airbus and Dassault’s visions of a fighter jet’s capabilities had recently diverged significantly.
Dassault had claimed a disproportionately large share of the project as well as the leading role. The German side, on the other hand, expressed the expectation that Dassault would "adhere to the existing agreements," under which the companies were to be equally involved. There had been repeated disputes over the division of responsibilities in the past as well.
Decision postponed several times
A political decision on the project, which also involves Spain through the Indra manufacturer, was postponed several times.
For Germany and France, who like to portray themselves as the driving force in Europe, the decision marks a bitter political setback.
Macron has for years been insisting on European sovereignty and joint defence projects. The fact that the defence project is failing due to industrial policy disagreements with one of his closest partners does not send the message of unity he would like to convey.
If realized, FCAS would have been the largest and most expensive European defence project to date. The air combat system was intended to operate in conjunction with drones, ultimately replacing Germany's Eurofighter and France's Rafale fighter jets from 2040 onwards.
The total cost was estimated at more than €100 billion ($115 billion). Germany, France and Spain had been wrangling over the project’s implementation for months.
Merz recently cited as a key problem the fact that the French require a different fighter aircraft to Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
He said France needs a nuclear-capable and an aircraft-carrier-capable aircraft in its next generation of fighter jets, which the Bundeswehr does not currently require.
The German side reportedly eventually put forward the option of implementing FCAS with two aircraft, which France rejected.
