German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said the collapse of the Future Combat Air System was not surprising, after Germany and France decided to end the long-running sixth-generation fighter programme. He said the breakdown did not strain the German-French relationship, and described the result as a reflection of years of unresolved disputes.
Pistorius made the remarks in Berlin on Tuesday, a day after the decision was taken. The programme had brought together Airbus and Dassault, but persistent industrial disagreement over the division of work had left the project unable to move forward in its fighter-aircraft phase.
While the combat aircraft element now appears halted, the broader system-of-systems work, including the combat cloud, may still continue. FCAS had been intended as one of Europe’s flagship defence programmes, and its breakdown is being viewed as a major setback for Franco-German industrial cooperation.