Berlin, Paris consider abandoning joint fighter-jet development — FT

Germany and France may drop their joint next-generation fighter project under the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin, will discuss the project’s future ahead of Tuesday’s talks between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Financial Times (FT).

The two countries are trying to salvage the €100 billion FCAS initiative, which has been jeopardised by disputes between key contractors Airbus and Dassault.

One option under consideration is to abandon the fighter-jet development while continuing work on a European air-force battle-management system.

The combat-cloud concept — a system using cloud-based data networks to link fighter pilots, aircraft, sensors, radars, drones and land- and sea-based command centres — is one of the core pillars of the FCAS programme.

According to officials, if the plan for a jointly produced fighter jet is ultimately shelved, prioritising the cloud element would still allow Berlin and Paris to preserve a degree of cooperation. They stressed, however, that no final decision has been taken.

The so-called combat cloud, designed to strengthen EU military capabilities by using artificial intelligence to swiftly process vast amounts of data, is being developed jointly by Airbus’s Germany-based defence division, France’s Thales and Spain’s Indra.

Other sources told the FT that cooperation on the cloud-based control system is progressing well. If the participating states decide to shelve the fighter-jet programme, the system’s launch could be brought forward from 2040 to 2030.

The interlocutors noted that all participants — Germany, France and Spain — view the development of such a system as essential to reduce dependence on US technologies.

By Jeyhun Aghazada