France and Germany Abandon €100bn Eurofighter Jet Project in Major Blow to European Defence Cooperation

Berlin/Paris – France and Germany have abandoned their joint €100 billion project to build a next-generation European fighter jet, officials in Berlin said Monday, dealing a severe blow to Europe's common defence efforts amid growing threats from Russia and an increasingly unreliable United States.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have "reached the shared assessment that the companies will not be able to come together," a German official told Agence France-Presse. "They acknowledge this reality."

The decision marks the end of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a flagship European defence initiative launched in 2017 by Macron and Merz's predecessor, Angela Merkel, to replace France's Rafale jets and the Eurofighter used by Germany and Spain by approximately 2040.

Disagreements Over Leadership and Control

The €100 billion project has been dogged by persistent disagreements between the companies involved – France's Dassault Aviation and the European aerospace group Airbus, which represents German and Spanish interests – over leadership and control of the development programme.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Dassault reportedly insisted on being the lead partner in the jet's development to protect its intellectual property, while Airbus pushed for a more equal partnership involving significant technology transfers between the companies.

"The actual core of FCAS is to be continued as a European system," a German government source told AFP, describing it as a "nervous system that networks aircraft, drones and other components into an integrated whole." However, the fighter jet element at the heart of the disagreement has been abandoned.

Divergent Military Requirements

Paris and Berlin were also understood to be at loggerheads over the type of jet required. France sought a single European model, but Germany argued its needs were fundamentally different because French planes need to carry nuclear weapons and land on aircraft carriers – requirements that do not apply to the German air force.

Chancellor Merz has previously and openly questioned whether developing a crewed sixth-generation fighter jet still makes sense for his country's air force, suggesting that EU member states do not all share the same military hardware requirements in an era of drone warfare and artificial intelligence.

Heavy Blow to European Defence

The abandonment of the FCAS project represents a severe setback to efforts by European countries to cooperate more closely on defence, after decades of underinvestment and faced with a hostile Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and an increasingly unreliable United States under potential future presidential administrations.

European sources told Reuters that while the fighter jet component has been abandoned, it remains possible that development of the project's other elements – including drones and a high-security combat data cloud – could continue independently.

A German government source told AFP: "The actual core of FCAS is to be continued as a European system," describing it as a "nervous system that networks aircraft, drones and other components into an integrated whole."

Macron's Political Setback

Macron's office did not immediately comment on the decision. With French elections scheduled for next year, Paris is understood to view some form of positive outcome from one of the outgoing president's landmark European initiatives as politically important.

German government sources said Merz and Macron had discussed the decision to announce an end to the troubled project on Friday during a summit between EU and Western Balkans leaders in Montenegro.

Both leaders had previously tried unsuccessfully to persuade Airbus and Dassault to reach agreement. Despite last-ditch efforts to salvage the project and public declarations by both leaders expressing determination for it to succeed, the rift between Paris and Berlin had become increasingly clear in recent months.

Mediators Failed to Salvage Deal

Two mediators, one from each country, were tasked in March with coming up with proposals to rescue the initiative but were ultimately unable to do so. The head of Dassault insisted throughout the negotiations that the company could handle the project alone and did not want it to be "co-managed."

There was no immediate comment on Monday from Dassault Aviation or Airbus regarding the formal abandonment of the project.

What Remains of FCAS

The FCAS programme was conceived as a three-part system including:

• Next-generation fighter jet: The crewed sixth-generation aircraft at the centre of the Franco-German dispute – now abandoned
• Combat drones: Unmanned aerial vehicles to accompany and support the fighter jet – potential to continue
• Combat cloud: A high-security data network connecting all elements of the system – potential to continue

European sources indicated that Germany and France may pursue separate national fighter jet programmes or seek alternative partnerships with other European nations including Spain, which was also a partner in the original FCAS initiative.

The collapse of FCAS raises questions about Europe's ability to maintain its indigenous defence industrial base and reduce dependence on US-made military hardware, including the F-35 Lightning II jointly developed by Lockheed Martin.