France and Germany fail to agree on joint fighter project
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The most expensive Franco-German defense project in the EU to create a new generation fighter FCAS has stalled, according to the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). In Paris and Berlin, they hoped that FCAS would replace the Eurofighter fighters of European NATO partners and the French Rafale fighters from 2040. But the implementation of the project, which is estimated at 100 billion euros, cannot begin in any way. The reason is the disputes between the Airbus concern, whose defense division is located in Germany, and the fighter manufacturer Dassault from France about who should actually manage the project and how developments and patents should be distributed (the third, junior, partner is Spain).
Dassault CEO Eric Trapier believes that his company should take the lead in the FCAS project, since it has experience in developing the Mirage and Rafale fighters on its own, which the Germans do not have. If initially it was announced that the development of FCAS would be completed by 2040, now, according to Trappier, it is already about 2050, while disagreements with Airbus should be resolved before the end of the year. He called the FCAS project “Plan A” for Dassault, hinting at the existence of a “Plan B”.
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