Germany Considers Withdrawing from FCAS Project and Purchasing American F-35 Aircraft

The project to build the future fighter FCAS is undergoing its most serious crisis since its inauguration in 2017. The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, publicly expressed doubts about the further technical and political rationale for this investment. The German leader emphasized that the requirement profiles of both countries have become too divergent, preventing effective cooperation. At the heart of the dispute is the struggle for industrial dominance between the French company Dassault Aviation and the European Airbus, representing the interests of Berlin and Madrid. The situation has been exacerbated by reports from Reuters agency, according to which Germany is secretly negotiating the purchase of at least an additional 35 units of American F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. Although the Ministry of Defense in Berlin officially denied these reports, claiming that no binding political decisions have been made, the market interpreted this as preparing a „Plan B”. Simultaneously, suggestions are emerging that Germany may abandon cooperation with France in favor of the British-Italian-Japanese GCAP project. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury called on governments to quickly resolve disputes, warning of a loss of competitiveness against the USA and China. Since the end of the Cold War, European armament projects have often struggled with delays and competency disputes, as exemplified by the multi-year construction of the Eurofighter Typhoon. While the FCAS project sinks into chaos, France is dynamically developing relations with other partners. President Emmanuel Macron announced in Delhi the establishment of strategic cooperation with India regarding joint production of Rafale fighter jets. Meanwhile, in Krakow, the defense ministers of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland announced an initiative to build a common, low-cost anti-aircraft defense system based on drones. These parallel actions show that Europe's defense priorities are shifting towards ad-hoc and battlefield-tested solutions from the war in Ukraine, at the expense of visionary but long-term programs such as the sixth-generation fighter. „This is not a political dispute; we simply have a real problem with the requirement profile. If we cannot solve it, we will not be able to sustain this project.” — Friedrich Merz100 mld € — is the estimated cost of the FCAS fighter programNumber of F-35 fighter jets ordered or planned by Germany: Current order: 35, Speculated additional batch: 35Evolution of the crisis surrounding the FCAS fighter: 13 July 2017 — Macron-Merkel Initiative; 4 December 2025 — Signal from Italy; 18 February 2026 — Merz's Declaration; 19 February 2026 — F-35 Rumors; 20 February 2026 — Krakow Summit