Overview
- The trilateral meeting will address governance for the next phase of the €100 billion Future Combat Air System, including the costly demonstrator stage.
- The programme has stalled over disagreements between Dassault Aviation and Airbus on who leads key technologies and decision-making.
- Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury urged keeping current governance to avoid any partner dominating the next stage.
- Dassault CEO Eric Trappier insists his company should steer decisions on the core fighter, while acknowledging Airbus’s lead on unmanned elements.
- Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Germany could probably join the separate UK‑Italy‑Japan GCAP fighter project in the future, characterizing growing outside interest as exploratory.