Airbus-Led 8-Company Alliance Unveils European Fighter Jet Plan After €100 Billion FCAS Collapse
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 9
Airbus-Led 8-Company Alliance Unveils European Fighter Jet Plan After €100 Billion FCAS Collapse
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 9
Summary
Eight aerospace and defence companies led by Airbus are set to launch “Team Gen 6” at the ILA Berlin Air Show, positioning it as the core of a new European sixth-generation fighter effort.
The move follows Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s decision to end Germany’s role in the €100 billion Franco-German FCAS fighter project after a long-running dispute between Dassault Aviation and Airbus’s German defence unit.
Chief executives from Airbus, MTU, MBDA, Diehl, Hensoldt, Rohde & Schwarz, Liebherr and Autoflug are due to sign the alliance, which aims to guarantee Europe’s future air “war-readiness” and could grow into a wider industrial consortium.
Germany is now seeking partners beyond France, with options including Spain, Sweden’s Saab or the British-Italian-Japanese GCAP programme, though analysts say Airbus would still need outside collaboration to turn the concept into an aircraft.
The break with FCAS leaves the future of related programme elements such as drones, sensors and engines uncertain, even as Berlin pushes a military buildup of more than €750 billion by 2030.