Overview
- France and Germany agreed to scrap the joint FCAS fighter on June 8, 2026, after a prolonged dispute over prime‑contractor roles, workshare and access to intellectual property.
- On June 11, 2026 eight German companies signed a Team Gen 6 positioning paper at ILA Berlin offering to take responsibility for a new sixth‑generation fighter and asking Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for timely contract decisions.
- Airbus named the German signatories as Airbus Defence and Space, Autoflug, Diehl Defence, Hensoldt, Liebherr, MBDA Deutschland, MTU Aero Engines and Rohde & Schwarz and said Spanish firms including Indra, GMV, Grupo Oesía, ITP Aero and Sener are organizing to join.
- Berlin has not committed to Team Gen 6 and is weighing alternatives such as buying more Lockheed Martin F‑35s or joining the Global Combat Air Programme, while officials plan to keep developing the FCAS combat‑cloud technology.
- The split leaves European industrial sovereignty at stake because salvaging FCAS components will determine where jobs, know‑how and future export work reside and the Franco‑German ministerial council in mid‑July is expected to clarify responsibilities and the programme timetable.