Chancellor Friedrich Merz sees the failure of the Franco-German fighter jet project as an opportunity for the German defence industry.
“While this resolves a long-standing deadlock, it also opens up new opportunities for the industry to make progress in the construction of modern fighter aircraft by other means,” Merz said at the opening of the ILA Berlin Air Show on Wednesday.
Following a long-running dispute, Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron this week announced the end of the multibillion-euro warplane scheme, which would have become Europe’s largest defence project and also involved Spain.
The companies involved, Dassault and Airbus, were unable to agree on a common approach during the negotiations.
Part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) will still continue, Merz said, highlighting the so-called "Combat Cloud," through which a wide variety of weapon systems are to be networked.
This presents a major opportunity for a "key Franco-German defence policy project for the future," he insisted, adding that the countries' defence ministers are to address the implementation of the project by the next Franco-German intergovernmental meeting in mid-July.
The head of Airbus Defence and Space, Michael Schöllhorn, told Merz that he expected the industry to now receive a “clear mandate” on how to proceed, both with the scaled-back FCAS project and with the development of a new fighter aircraft.
Together, he said, the two projects had the potential to “become the technological and economic flagship project for German and European industry.”
He emphasized that NATO air forces still require manned fighter jets, which could then be networked with unmanned drones.
German industry still wants to develop a fighter aircraft “for and with Europe,” Schöllhorn stated. “We are not advocating a German solo effort; we think in European terms.”
However, German industry must “be involved in a significant and responsible role,” he added.
The most likely scenario is that Airbus and the Spanish company Indra, which is involved in FCAS, could now seek to collaborate with the Swedish manufacturer Saab Gripen.
