German industry is preparing a Team Gen 6 fighter plan after reporting that the Franco-German Future Combat Air System has effectively collapsed, with Germany and France said to have abandoned the New Generation Fighter element of the programme. The development follows repeated disputes between the industrial partners over requirements and workshare.
The reporting says the breakdown centres on Airbus and Dassault Aviation, which were unable to agree on the aircraft design and industrial division, including intellectual-property and patent rights. A French diplomat quoted in the coverage said President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz had held frequent talks, but that no viable future remained for the NGF in its current form.
FCAS has been one of Europe’s main sixth-generation combat-aircraft projects, and a failure of the NGF track would be a serious setback for European defence-industrial cooperation. The articles do not indicate that every FCAS technology strand has been dropped, but they do suggest the crewed fighter component is the part now in doubt.