The Rolls-Royce boss has said he would welcome Germany helping build Britain’s next-generation fighter jet, arguing it would generate more business for the project.
The aircraft, designed to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon, is a joint effort between the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan. Rolls-Royce is building the plane’s engine, which has attracted new attention as plans for a rival Franco-German fighter jet teeter on the brink of collapse.
Tufan Erginbilgiç, who has headed the engineering company since 2023, told The Guardian that he would “definitely be open” to Germany joining the global fighter aircraft program (GCAP), also known as Tempest.
“We already work with Germany… we have a big position in Dahlewitz (a Rolls-Royce factory near Berlin). In terms of civil aerospace, we make commercial aviation engines there,” he said. “But the benefit of GCAP will go further. The more countries join, the more countries will certainly buy, because you cannot be a member and not buy.
“It’s the government’s decision, not mine or any commercial company’s. Depending on how geopolitics and other things develop, (Germany’s accession) remains a possibility.”
Speculation has increased over the possibility of Germany joining the GCAP after it fell out with France over its own joint fighter project.
The future Franco-German combat air system (FCAS) has stalled amid a rift between the two biggest companies tasked with building it: Dassault, France’s national fighter jet manufacturer, and Germany-based Airbus’ defense business.
In February, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the planned fighter jet was not suited to Germany’s needs. The German military did not need a nuclear-capable fighter, while France did, he said, insisting that “this was not a political dispute” but a technical one between the two countries.
Britain has signaled it would be open to new partners in GCAP, but experts have suggested this could slow down the fighter, which is due to enter service in 2035. Ministers have already delayed signing a trilateral contract for the programme, a delay linked to the publication of a long-awaited defense spending plan.
European governments are rushing to increase defense spending in response to threats from Russia, and Donald Trump has told the continent it is time to pay for its own security.
Erginbilgiç said that while the UK had a “competitive advantage” in some military technology, increasing spending and production capacity was important both for national security and because it directly fed commercial exports.
“Today the United Kingdom exports Eurofighters,” he said. “If you don’t have that capability, how am I going to export Eurofighters? You can’t. It’s as simple as that. Don’t look at a defense program as a defense program. It can also help boost the country’s economic growth and improve technology that can then be used in the civil aerospace sector.”
Erginbilgiç spoke after Rolls-Royce reported that its profits rose 40% last year as its recovery accelerated, helped by growing demand for power from data centres.
The US-Israel war against Iran could push up defense company stock prices when stock markets reopen on Monday.
A UK government spokesperson said: “Together with our partners Japan and Italy, we remain open to other partners joining the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), while maintaining the program schedule and delivering our future military capabilities.”
