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Germany is exploring abandoning France as a partner in a flagship fighter jet programme that was supposed to showcase European defence co-operation.
In a sign of the growing rift over the Future Combat Air System, Berlin is weighing how to proceed, including working with alternative partners such as the UK or Sweden. A dispute on how to progress with the second phase of the project has thrown its future into doubt.
Germany and Spain, the third partner in FCAS, could also progress the programme on their own without France, according to three people briefed on the situation.
“Better an end with horror than a horror without end,” one of the people said. “There will be a fighter [jet] with or without France.”
Another person briefed on the discussions said that it was “normal” for Berlin to explore options given the uncertainty over the project, after French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz set the end of the year as a deadline to resolve the crisis.
FCAS, the person added, remained the preferred option, but it was down to Paris to get Dassault Aviation, France’s industrial lead in the project, to respect the original deal.
Speaking on Thursday after meeting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Merz said that Germany was talking with the French government and wanted a solution as soon as possible. But he added that “things cannot continue as they are now”.
The collapse of FCAS would be a severe blow to Europe’s ambitions at a time when governments are seeking to bolster their military capabilities to counter the threat from Russia.
Germany’s alternative plans were first reported by Politico.
Launched by Berlin and Paris in 2017 and later joined by Madrid, FCAS has been dominated by tensions between the industrial partners from the start, notably between Airbus, which represents Germany, and France’s Dassault. Spain’s Indra Sistemas is also a partner.
The programme was conceived as a fighter jet that would work seamlessly with drones, next generation weapons and advanced communication systems.
Dassault, which developed France’s successful Rafale jet and has the lead role on the fighter element, has said it wants the governance of the project to change, notably the one country, one vote principle, arguing it should have a freer hand in piloting the second phase. Airbus, however, has maintained that all three partners agreed to the current structure.
Airbus said it remained “committed to the success of the FCAS programme and to all agreements made to date between the programme’s partners”. The German defence ministry and Dassault declined to comment, while the Élysée and the French defence ministry did not immediately respond to a comment request.
French and German defence officials discussed how to resolve the infighting in August when Merz and Macron held a one-day summit in Toulon. At that time, a French official said that Paris remained committed to moving ahead with FCAS and believed compromises can be found.
Germany’s decision to explore alternatives comes amid political turbulence in France. Macron last week named longtime ally Sébastien Lecornu as his third prime minister in a year. Lecornu, who had been defence minister, is likely to continue to play a crucial role in talks over the FCAS project.
Finding new partners, however, will not be straightforward. The UK, through BAE Systems, already partners with Italy and Japan in the Global Combat Air Programme to build a next generation fighter jet. Were FCAS to collapse, Germany could lobby to join GCAP, although industry experts have said a full partnership was unlikely given how advanced the programme is.
The companies involved in GCAP have pledged to build an advanced fighter jet by 2035. Industry executives said last week that they were talking to several other nations keen to join. There were opportunities for partnering, they said, but played down the possibility of another country joining as a full partner.
Another option for Germany were France to withdraw would be to work with Sweden, which could contribute to FCAS through Saab, which builds the Gripen fighter.
Berlin could opt to go it alone with Madrid, its partner on the Eurofighter programme, alongside the UK and Italy.
Additional reporting by Leila Abboud
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