France and Germany’s next-generation fighter jet project could soon be “dead”, one of the two companies tasked with running it has warned, amid a growing corporate dispute over who will build the plane.
Dassault Aviation, France’s main warplane maker, said Airbus’ defense arm – which represents Germany and Spain – needed to cooperate on the €100 billion program otherwise it would collapse.
“Airbus doesn’t want to work with Dassault, period. I take note. I never said I didn’t want to work with Airbus or the Germans,” Éric Trappier, Dassault’s chief executive, said through an interpreter while presenting the company’s financial results on Wednesday.
“If Airbus maintains its position of not wanting to work with Dassault, the matter is dead,” he added.
The two companies have been embroiled in a dispute over how to share work on the jet component of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), with Dassault saying it should take the lead and Airbus should take a backseat.
The sweeping project, which will also include autonomous drones and a futuristic “combat communications cloud,” was announced almost nine years ago but has since come to represent Europe’s inability to cooperate effectively on defense as the region seeks to rearm.
Trappier said: “Dassault was the selected leader… I understand that Airbus doesn’t like that decision, but we are making sure we honor the contract.”
He also questioned German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s claim that the planned fighter jet was not suited to Germany’s needs. The German military did not need a nuclear-capable fighter, while France did, Merz said last month, insisting that this was “not a political dispute” but a technical one between the two countries.
Trappier said: “I heard what the Chancellor said. I know he is now talking about having two aircraft instead of one. And that could be explained by the fact that there are different operational needs (between the two countries).
“My highest authorities here in France say that we have similar operational needs and that there is an agreement at the operational level.”
Last month, Guillaume Faury, chief executive of Airbus, also suggested splitting the plan into two separate warplanes to keep the other components alive.
France, Germany and Spain are expected to decide soon whether to move on to the next stage of the program or abandon the plane and move forward with the other elements.
There have also been suggestions that Germany could abandon the project in favor of Britain’s rival Global Fighter Aircraft Program (GCAP), also known as Tempest. The fighter jet, which is being developed with Italy and Japan, will take off five years before the FCAS, in 2035.
Tufan Erginbilgiç, the boss of Rolls-Royce, which is building the engines for the British plane, told The Guardian that he would “definitely be open” to Germany joining the plan.
