FCAS friction: France and Germany struggle to keep 6th-generation fighter jet project from unravelling
August 22, 2025
Despite huge arguments and cultural differences between Germany and France, it appears they have little option but to remain in the unholy FCAS partnership. Dassault and Airbus Defence are “competitors that have to marry.”
FCAS fighter jet is now at the crossroads
Bertrand de Cordoue, an aerospace industry expert working with the Jacques Delors Institute, told Euractiv, “Germany and France are at a crossroads where if they decide to invest more, they will make the project irreversible.”
The FCAS program is approaching a major milestone later this year, “as it moves from the planning phase towards building a prototype of the fighter jet, the programme’s centrepiece.” Once it reaches the next stage, there will be few opportunities to renegotiate the terms of the program.
It has previously been reported that there is a major disagreement between France and Germany over the 6th-generation FCAS fighter jet being jointly developed. France is reportedly demanding an 80% workshare, while Germany has stated it will not meekly provide funds to what would essentially be a French fighter jet.
The Farnborough Aerospace Consortium highlights issues between France and Germany, including France’s centralist presidential system and preference for unilateral military action, against Germany’s parliamentary system and multilateral orientation. Other issues include dividing workload, protecting intellectual property, and contrasting export policies.
Another issue could be divergent requirements. France is likely to require a variant to operate from its planned future aircraft carrier.
France is threatening to go it alone, again
In June 2025, Bloomberg reported “strains within a troubled Franco-German jet-fighter alliance broke into the open at the Paris Air Show, as Airbus SE and Dassault Aviation SA sparred over who should take charge of the next-generation jet.”
Dassault Aviation is France’s leading contractor in the program, and it publicly mused about pulling out of the program with Germany. At the Paris Air Show, the head of Dassault stated the company may “go at it alone.” Airbus opined at the air show, “We are competitors that have to marry.”
France has long valued strategic autonomy, from its large nuclear-powered electricity network to the indigenous design and manufacture of military equipment. France initially partnered with the UK and Germany to build what would be the Eurofighter Typhoon, but ended up splitting off, going its own way, and building the Rafale.
Doomed to remain in a toxic marriage
France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany’s Airbus Defence have been “largely forced together by political deals cut in Paris and Berlin.” The forced partnership has resulted in a very publicly unhappy relationship between the two leading aerospace contractors.
There have been repeated rumours that Germany could throw in the towel and join the UK-led GCAP/Tempest project (confusingly also sometimes called FCAS) with Japan and Italy. But while the GCAP program is still looking for partners with deep pockets to invest in it (like Saudi Arabia), there is little scope for another large industrial participant who would want a large workshare of the project (like Germany).
Justin Bronk from the think-tank RUSI has pointed out that the trio has already largely finalized the division of contracts. Manufacturing is already underway on the GCAP/Tempest prototype.
If Germany were to join at this stage, it would have much less influence over the project. In other words, it seems Germany may have missed the boat with GCAP.
Why does the UK need a Future Combat Air System? FCAS will integrate a sixth-gen fighter with cutting edge-tech & other platforms like un crewed systems, to create crucial military capability for decades to come. Find out about the latest developments 👇https://t.co/iu67PEFLBG pic.twitter.com/nMeynz2tZu
— BAE Systems Air (@BAESystemsAir) August 14, 2025
For France, it no longer appears to have the finances needed to design and build a next-generation fighter alone. In fact, it’s unclear if any country in the world has the industrial base and budget to develop a true 6th-generation fighter alone, with the exceptions of the United States and China.
In the United States, there is even debate over whether the industrial base is big enough to develop the US Air Force’s F-47 and Navy’s F/A-XX simultaneously.
