French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have instructed their defense departments to move ahead with a troubled European fighter jet initiative worth $116 billion, according to government officials.
The ambitious military aviation program, which includes Spain as a partner, has faced serious obstacles due to public disagreements between France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus over who should lead the massive undertaking.
When a journalist questioned whether the FCAS program had failed, Macron responded firmly. “No, not at all,” the French leader stated during an EU summit in Cyprus, where he had met with Merz to address the issue.
“We had a good discussion this morning with the chancellor, and we gave a mandate to our defence ministries to work precisely on several areas, on a range of different issues,” Macron explained. “Not just the future combat aircraft, but various levers of cooperation between our two countries.”
A representative from the German government verified that the two leaders had discussed the matter.
“The Chancellor and the President instructed their defence ministers to continue working on various areas of cooperation and to agree on the next steps. This work will be completed in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson confirmed.
Earlier this week, defense officials from both nations presented conflicting schedules for resolving the fighter jet program’s future, with some suggesting an immediate decision while others requested additional time for negotiations.
The central conflict revolves around which country will oversee the primary fighter aircraft component of a comprehensive system designed to connect manned aircraft with armed drones through advanced digital technology.
Industry experts have anticipated that Germany and France might scale back their joint fighter development while maintaining collaboration on drone technology and the digital infrastructure that would link various military assets including aircraft, unmanned vehicles, and ground-based radar systems. However, abandoning the original plan would create political difficulties for Macron.
