Overview
- Eric Trappier said Dassault will allow two to three weeks to reach a deal with Airbus and the German and Spanish sides on the Future Combat Air System.
- He rejected co-management for the program and said a single company must lead the work.
- Trappier added that Dassault could build a Rafale successor on its own and that the next jet must be able to launch from an aircraft carrier.
- French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz back the effort and appointed two mediators to present proposals by the end of April.
- FCAS is a joint France-Germany-Spain project launched in 2017 to replace Rafale and Eurofighter fleets, and many see it as a test of European defense cooperation given fears about Russia and an uncertain U.S. security role.