France and Germany scrap their joint future fighter jet: a blow to European unity, or national interests winning out?
France and Germany have abandoned the FCAS programme — the next-generation fighter, worth an estimated €100bn, meant to replace the Rafale and Eurofighter — after their aerospace champions, Dassault and Airbus, failed to agree on who leads. Some call it a damaging blow to Europe's push for a united defence; others say a dysfunctional 'forced marriage' was never going to work.
The summary above is a neutral framing. Below, each side reports the same story in its own words — judge for yourself.
Supporters of joint European defence call the collapse a serious setback: at the very moment Europe faces a hostile Russia and souring ties with Washington, its two biggest military powers could not hold a flagship project together — undermining the drive for strategic autonomy.
Others see a forced marriage that was unworkable from the start: launched in 2017, the programme was deadlocked because Dassault and Airbus could never agree on leadership and workshare — and with the firms unable to find a way forward, each side may be freer to pursue its own path.
