Fighter jets: Merz and Macron need to calm the waters DW 08/28/2025

"It's the most expensive single defense project in Europe, with a projected cost of at least 100 billion ($116.6 billion). From 2040, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) aims to combine a new European fighter jet with fleets of drones controlled via a European defense cloud. "It's more like a flying combat system," Christian Molling, a German security expert, told DW."

"The goal is to reduce European dependence on the United States and the F-35 fighter jets, equipped with stealth technology, that the US produces. However, the two companies involved Dassault in France, and Airbus in Germany and Spain are embroiled in a dispute, primarily about the manufacture of the plane itself. Pressure from the French manufacturer Dassault This row has now escalated to the point that the big bosses have had to step in."

"The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, unexpectedly announced that they would be attending the Franco-German Defense and Security Council meeting in the French city of Toulon on Friday. The council meets twice a year, usually without attracting much attention from the general public. In recent months, however, Eric Trappier, the CEO of the French fighter jet manufacturer Dassault, has been piling on the pressure."

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is a pan-European defense program projected to cost at least €100 billion ($116.6 billion) and to enter service from 2040. The program seeks to integrate a new European manned fighter with networks of drones operated through a European defense cloud to lower dependence on US F-35 stealth fighters. The project faces a major industrial dispute between Dassault and Airbus over manufacture responsibilities. Dassault's CEO has warned that FCAS could weaken French strategic independence, noting Dassault's role in nuclear deterrent components. Political leaders, including Macron and Merz, have intervened as tensions escalated.

Read at www.dw.com