The fate of the pan-European FCAS project, primarily creation of a sixth-generation fighter in which France, Germany, as well as Spain participate, should be decided in a matter of weeks. Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier made another series of statements once again indicating that chances of restoring any adequate communication in the project are absolutely zero. The parties only have to make a decisive decision to officially announce cancellation of the idea to create a fighter within trilateral cooperation.
Despite all efforts by German and French sides to somehow settle the conflict, the Dassault Aviation head once again stated intentions to obtain more autonomy for the company in creating the sixth-generation fighter. He emphasized he is not a supporter of joint management, and that the project needs a single leader.
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Trappier's words were spoken at a forum by Le Point magazine, as reported by BFMBusiness. We'll give ourselves a little more time, 2-3 weeks, to try to reach an agreement between the French and Germans, between Dassault and Airbus, to find a balance that would allow continuing the project, he emphasized.
The two to three weeks timeline roughly coincides with the previously announced plan by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. During a meeting in mid-March, they agreed to try to reconcile Dassault and Airbus within a month, although even then everything looked completely unrealistic.
Immediately after this, German unions demanded breaking the FCAS project and starting to create their own sixth-generation fighter. The Dassault head in his time once again reminded that it's the French, not Germans, who know how to make fighters from scratch.
With Rafale we did everything ourselves, we know how to do everything independently. With Eurofighter within a four-way partnership. Of these four countries, three purchased American F-35s, Trappier noted, hinting that joint projects don't always directly contribute to strengthening the European defense-industrial complex.
Defense Express recalls that the sixth-generation fighter is one of three components of the FCAS aviation program (and generally almost any modern aviation program). Proposals were previously voiced to continue implementing FCAS in a reduced version, with unmanned fighter as well as so-called combat cloud.
However, everything indicates that France and Germany will also look for an unmanned fighter for their military separately. The French seem to rely on solutions from Europe, while Germans are considering options from Australia and the U.S.
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