Joint European fighter jet project at risk of collapse.
The newspaper Die Zeit wrote in an article that the project to build a new fighter jet between Germany, France, and Spain is in danger of collapse due to a dispute over shares.
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation is concerned that the joint project to build the FCAS fighter jet between Germany, France, and Spain is at risk of failure. Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault, said at his company’s mid-year press conference that the project needs clearer leadership and better organization.
He stressed that decisions on key parts of the current design phase of the project must be coordinated with Airbus as a partner, which complicates the work and leads to delays.
When asked if Dassault had threatened to pull out of the project under these circumstances, Trappier gave a vague answer, saying, “It is not a question of leaving the project, but of deciding whether to continue or not.”
He denied reports that Dassault was seeking 80 percent control of the project. There has also been speculation in recent weeks that the project could be ended because Germany and Spain object to such a disproportionate participation by France.
The dispute is also expected to be discussed at a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting will primarily be to prepare for the Franco-German Council of Ministers in the autumn but will also address the contribution of the French and German defense industries to the FCAS.
With this project, the Europeans aim to become more independent from the United States, which dominates military aviation in NATO. Under current agreements, France, Germany, and Spain will each contribute one-third to the development of a successor to the German Eurofighter and the French Rafale, as well as the associated weapons systems. The air combat system is scheduled to enter service in 2040.
The project is led by Dassault Aviation in France, Airbus in Germany and Indra in Spain. However, the allocation of workload between countries has already been a problem within the Franco-German Airbus group. In the past, joint European defense projects have often taken much longer than expected and cost more than planned.