France and Germany agreed to build the fighter jet of the future. Now they can’t agree who is in charge

2026-02-20 - 06:23

FCAS, which also involves Spain, is imploding at a high-stakes moment for Europe, as threat rises from Russia France and Germany’s plan to build a fighter jet of the future, planned to come with a swarm of drones and a “combat communications cloud”, is collapsing. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said this week that the €100bn programme no longer worked for him. He insisted it was “not a political dispute”, but a technical one. France needs a jet that can carry nuclear weapons and launch from aircraft carriers, while Germany does not. However, the problems go back much further. Continue reading...