Political fury in Brussels and Madrid

The collapse of the Franco-German effort to build a common sixth-generation fighter jet triggered sharp rebukes from two European partners on Tuesday. Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever, speaking at a Friends of Europe conference in Brussels, said he was 'extremely disappointed' by the breakdown.

“What a waste of time, what arrogance!”

He called the decision 'pure stupidity' and warned that Europe had chosen to become irrelevant in a crucial component of air defence for at least a decade.

Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles echoed the criticism from Madrid, describing the failure as 'very bad news, very worrying for Europe's strategic autonomy.'

“Industry interests were put ahead of Europe's security and defence interests.”

She insisted the sixth-generation aircraft remained 'absolutely essential' and said Spain would explore alternative paths to keep the programme alive.

What died and what survived

The German government announced on Monday that chancellor Friedrich Merz and president Emmanuel Macron had accepted that Airbus Defence and Space and France's Dassault Aviation could not bridge their differences on the joint fighter airframe. The Next Generation Fighter (NGF) — the piloted jet at the centre of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) — is now dead. However, the wider FCAS ecosystem, including the 'combat cloud' digital network linking drones, satellites and ground sensors, continues in development.

“This so-called Combat Cloud will continue to be developed. And that plays the decisive role in FCAS.”

Why the airframe split was baked in

Divergent operational requirements dogged the project from its 2017 launch by Macron and then-chancellor Angela Merkel. France needed a carrier-capable jet able to deliver nuclear weapons from the Charles de Gaulle; Germany required a longer-range, faster land-based interceptor with no carrier or nuclear-strike role. Reconciling a reinforced undercarriage and compact airframe with a larger fuel tank and different speed profile proved impossible across nine years of talks. A bilateral mediation team appointed in late March 2026 failed to find a compromise.

The Dassault factor

De Wever directed part of his criticism at Dassault CEO Eric Trappier, who has repeatedly argued France does not need Germany to develop a next-generation fighter. Trappier also opposed Belgium's observer status in FCAS after Brussels purchased American F-35s, a dispute that strained relations between Dassault and successive Belgian governments.

“Thinking you can develop a combat aircraft alone, or do it faster alone, is simply ignoring reality.”

What comes next

Spain, a full partner through Indra, pledged to pursue 'many alternatives' with France and Germany. Belgium, an observer since 2023, lacks a formal seat but used the moment to demand collective European air-defence planning. The programme was originally meant to replace Germany's Eurofighters and France's Rafales around 2040. With the NGF cancelled, both nations now face a gap in their long-term air-power roadmaps while the combat cloud and drone components proceed without a central manned platform.