Efforts to break the deadlock over plans for a new 2025 Eurofighter fighter jet have been unsuccessful, a German government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.
The Future Fighter System (FCAS) program was launched in 2017 and is designed to replace France’s Rafale fighter jets and the Eurofighter aircraft used by Germany and Spain.
But the three-nation plan has stalled in recent months amid disagreements between France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain’s interests in the project.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously promised to make a decision on FCAS by the end of this year.
However, a government spokesman said Mertz and French President Emmanuel Macron had been unable to discuss the project in recent weeks due to “the comprehensive agenda of Franco-German foreign and security policy issues.”
No new decision date was given.
The future of the FCAS program is looking increasingly uncertain due to tensions between Dassault Aviation and Airbus.
In September, both Dassault and French government officials said France was capable of developing the project alone if negotiations with Germany and Spain failed.
In mid-December, a prominent German lawmaker also called for a break with France on the project.
“France and Germany do not necessarily need the same aircraft,” said Volker Mayer-Lay, a conservative lawmaker in Meuz.
Meyer-Lay believes France should build its own fighter jets, while Germany and Spain seek new partners to produce individual aircraft.
bur-fec/fz/rl