Spain, a full participant in the FCAS sixth-generation fighter program, is already examining contingency options in the event the program finally collapses as France and Germany, the other two partners,remain locked in a prolonged dispute and have yet to find the resolve to either officially kill the program or agree on a path forward, with efforts to salvage it now reduced to ministerial-level contacts.
From Defense Express's perspective, Spain's position in this program looks increasingly absurd. On one hand, as recently as last autumn when the Franco-German dispute was already in full swing Spain decidedto invest €700 million into what was already a near-moribund project. On the other hand, amid the public feud between Germany and France and more precisely between Airbus and Dassault Spain increasingly appears to be the unwanted third party. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has previously criticized the program publicly.
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That said, as Spanish outlet El Independiente reports, negotiations on FCAS are ongoing, and unnamed sources involved in the process suggest there is a reasonable chance the parties will ultimately reach an agreement on how the program moves forward. The argument is that the mere fact negotiations continue keeps alive the possibility of saving the project though as of today there is no clarity whatsoever on how France and Germany could actually reconcile their differences.
The view that FCAS can be salvaged is shared by Indra president Angel Escribano whose company serves as Spain's lead contractor on the program. Escribano described FCAS as a great project that will move forward. Nevertheless, Spain is exploring alternatives.
Two options are typically cited, though it is worth taking a broader view and considering the full range of possibilities available to Madrid which are, in practice, not particularly numerous.
The least realistic option is developing a sixth-generation fighter independently. Such a program would take decades and an extraordinary amount of money, and if competitors deliver their aircraft sooner, the export potential of a late Spanish entrant would be questionable.
Another option is to seek partners for a joint program, or to join an existing one. The latter effectively means the Tempest program being pursued by the United Kingdom, Japan, and Italy. Progress there is better than in FCAS, though not without complications: Italy has repeatedly complained that Britain is unwilling to share technologies, while Japan has expressed concerns about the program's timelines.
Other options cited include extending the service life of the currently operated Eurofighter Typhoon — though sooner or later it will have to be retired, most likely to be replaced simply by purchasing whichever sixth-generation fighter is available on the market in ten or twenty years.
It is also worth noting that Spain has been eyeing the Turkish Kaan fighter, with Turkey prepared to offer technology transfer. However, the Kaan is not yet in serial production and currently depends on American engines. As for simply buying the American F-35, Spain has rejected that option twice already.
Defense Express previously reported that if Spain suddenly needed to shoot down Shaheds, it would be hunting them with anti-aircraft guns dating from the 1970s.
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