Germany may abandon the $100 billion FCAS programme to develop Europe's sixth-generation fighter jet and join another project

Spain, Germany and France are working on a sixth-generation fighter jet. But there is a risk that the programme will lose one participant.

Here's What We Know

A trio of European countries are working on a sixth-generation fighter as part of the FCAS (Future Combat Air System) programme. However, Germany may leave the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100bn.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is close to pulling Germany out of the FCAS programme and joining the GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme). This is another project to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet. It is led by the UK, Japan and Italy.

There are several reasons why Germany is ready to leave the FCAS project. Firstly, the parties cannot decide who is in charge. This leads to constant delays and postponements. According to current estimates, the sixth-generation fighter will be available in about 20 years, while China and the US will have the aircraft ready by the middle of the next decade. The GCAP project is on a similar schedule.

Secondly, the German authorities believe that France is focused solely on its own needs. In particular, the country has abandoned the German Sky Shield initiative, which envisages strengthening of air and missile defence in Europe.

By joining the GCAP project, Germany wants to strengthen relations with the United Kingdom. The obstacle may be the fact that Berlin has already invested about $40 billion in the FCAS programme. By the way, Saudi Arabia is interested in GCAP, which has a chance to receive European fighters of the fourth generation Eurofighter Typhoon.

Source: The Times