Published: 10:53 AM, 10 June 2026
Germany and France abandon joint fighter jet program
A German government official told AFP that Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached the shared assessment that the companies will not be able to come together on building a joint combat aircraft. Getty Images
France and Germany on Monday announced they were abandoning a joint fighter jet program due to disagreements between France's Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain. The decision came as a blow to European efforts to boost defence cooperation in the face of increasing Russian hostilities and souring ties with the United States.
France and Germany said on Monday they had agreed to abandon a joint fighter jet program due to disagreements between the companies involved, in a blow to European efforts to boost defence cooperation.
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program was launched in 2017 to replace France's Rafale jets and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain.
The project was seen as a key test of European efforts to work more closely on defence as they seek to present a united front in the face of a hostile Russia at a time of souring ties with the United States.
But the multi-billion-dollar program was beset by disagreements between the firms involved - France's Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain.
A German government official told AFP that Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached the shared assessment that the companies will not be able to come together on building a joint combat aircraft. The official however said other parts of the wide-ranging project will continue.
"The actual core of FCAS is to be continued as a European system," the official said, describing it as a "nervous system that networks aircraft, drones and other components into an integrated whole". The French and German defence ministries are set to draw up a plan for defence cooperation "focused on a few realistic and relevant projects" at a forthcoming meeting, the official added.
In Paris, a Elysée official confirmed Berlin's announcement.
Macron and Merz "held lengthy and frequent discussions on ways to advance this project, which is important for European defence", the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"They each expressed regret over the inability of the industrial partners to reach an agreement on continuing the project," the official added.
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