{"id":372760,"date":"2025-08-25T16:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T16:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/372760\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T16:42:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T16:42:55","slug":"no-plan-b-but-fcas-france-says-ahead-of-decisive-macron-merz-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/372760\/","title":{"rendered":"“No plan B” but FCAS, France says ahead of decisive Macron-Merz meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nParis and Berlin will work out differences in building a sixth generation fighter, the French Elys\u00e9e palace insisted, days before a meeting between Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nThere is “shared optimism” that tensions between the industry players delivering Europe’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), will be resolved, an Elys\u00e9e source said on Monday ahead of a high-stakes meeting between the two governments.\n<\/p>\n

\nMacron, Merz and their respective defence ministers are meeting on Thursday in the southern French town of Toulon, after months<\/a> of public bickering between their respective industry champions Dassault and Airbus on who’s taking the lead on developing the core of FCAS: its fighter.\n<\/p>\n

\n“There is no plan B” but to make the FCAS with both Paris and Berlin in the lead, the source said.\n<\/p>\n

\n“Temporary difficulties must be addressed,” the source added.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile Paris and Berlin were initially expected to indicate a way forward<\/a> for the major development project this week, that goalpost seems to have moved further down the road.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe FCAS programme and its land equivalent, the next-gen battle tank also known as MGCS, “will come to fruition according to modalities which experts are currently reviewing and ministers will take the decision,” the Elys\u00e9e source said.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe issue will be settled by the end of the year, both countries promised<\/a> in July.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe division of work<\/a> is the main issue that France’s Dassault and Germany’s Airbus have publicly fought over in the past few months, especially after\u00a0Dassault reportedly asked to take the lead on 60% of the project and said it could do it all alone if needed.\n<\/p>\n

\nFrance and Germany, with Spain, started work on the six generation fighter years ago. The project is now at a crossroads, as it moves from the planning phase towards building a prototype of the fighter jet.\n<\/p>\n

\n(cp)\n<\/p>\n

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