Germany and France end joint FCAS next-generation fighter development
Europe's plan for a homegrown sixth-gen fighter just lost its core. Germany and France are ending joint development of the manned FCAS jet after Airbus $AIR and Dassault $AM could not agree on leadership, workshare and IP. The combat-cloud pillar survives. Reported by Defense New
Europe's flagship effort to build a sixth-generation fighter has come apart. After months of stalled negotiations, Germany and France are ending joint development of the manned aircraft at the center of the Future Combat Air System, the program meant to replace the Eurofighter and Rafale in the 2040s. The breakdown traces to a dispute the two governments and their industry champions could never resolve: who controls the design and who owns the underlying technology. Airbus $AIR, representing Germany and Spain, and France's Dassault Aviation $AM spent years unable to agree on workshare and intellectual property. The two sides also wanted different aircraft. France required a jet able to carry nuclear weapons and operate from a carrier; Germany did not. Chancellor Friedrich Merz conveyed the decision to President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of an EU summit in the Western Balkans, where both concluded there was no path through the deadlock. The wider system of systems, including the secure combat-cloud network that links aircraft, drones and sensors, will continue and keep the FCAS label. The collapse leaves Europe without a unified next-generation fighter at a moment of mounting pressure to rebuild defense capacity, and reopens the question of what Berlin and Paris each pursue on their own. Reported by Defense News, France 24 and Euronews.