Germany has informed France that it wants to withdraw from plans to develop a joint fighter jet, dealing a potentially fatal blow to Europe’s largest defence programme at a time when the continent is seeking to re-arm against the Russian threat.
After months of efforts to rescue the project, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in Montenegro on Friday that it would be better to end the partnership on the aircraft, according to German government insiders.
Instead, Merz proposed that the two countries and Spain, which is also a partner, continue working together on the so-called combat cloud — the software architecture designed to connect aircraft, sensors, radars, drones and satellites in real time, the officials added. The cloud is already one of the pillars of the €100bn Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme.