The Franco-German fighter of the sixth generation crashed in the bud

The Franco-German project to create a sixth-generation fighter failed. This is reported by n-TV with reference to sources.

France and Germany have actually curtailed one of the most ambitious defense projects in Europe — a joint program to create a sixth-generation FCAS fighter.

"After many years of preparation, the project to produce a billion-dollar German-French fighter failed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have come to a joint conclusion that Dassault and Airbus will not unite to create a joint fighter, according to sources in German government circles. "They recognize this reality," so Merz suggested to Macron not to continue building a joint fighter," the publication says.

According to German sources, the project has stalled due to disagreements between Dassault Aviation and Airbus, as well as the Spanish participant of the Indra Sistemas project. The stumbling block was the distribution of roles and shares in the development — France demanded a more significant leading role, while Germany insisted on a purely equal participation of the parties within the framework of already agreed agreements.

According to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of the key problems was the different requirements for the future aircraft. France needs a fighter capable of carrying nuclear weapons and operating from an aircraft carrier, while Germany does not need it. Berlin offered an option with two modifications of the aircraft, but Paris rejected it.

Against the background of constant disputes between partners, the project eventually turned out to be actually frozen.

The program was estimated at more than 100 billion euros and was supposed to lead to the creation of a new generation of combat aircraft in conjunction with UAVs that would replace the French Rafale and German-Spanish Eurofighter.

As EADaily reported, the American edition of Breaking Defense commented on the progress of the Franco-German program to create the sixth-generation Future Combat Air System (FCAS) fighter. According to experts from the United States, we are talking about a complete failure.