The chancellor’s remarks are the most explicit public signal yet that Berlin could abandon the project if the core design dispute cannot be resolved.
At the center of the disagreement is the aircraft itself. France wants a next-generation jet capable of carrying nuclear weapons and operating from aircraft carriers — capabilities Germany does not currently seek.
“The French need a nuclear-capable and carrier-capable aircraft in the next generation. The Bundeswehr doesn’t need that for now,” Merz said.
That divergence raises a structural question for the program on whether partners build one aircraft or separate versions, he added. “France wants to build only one and align it with its own specifications. But that is not what we need.”
Merz said he is discussing with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius whether Germany will even require a manned fighter jet in two decades, while signaling Berlin could consider alternative cooperation formats.
“There are others in Europe, the Spanish anyway, but also other countries interested in talking with us about it,” he said, while insisting he does not see a political rupture with Paris.
FCAS is intended to replace Germany’s Eurofighter and France’s Rafale around 2040 through a networked “system of systems” combining a stealth jet, drones and digital combat cloud technologies. But the project has been repeatedly delayed by industrial disputes, especially between France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany-backed Airbus over design authority.
Officials in both countries have recently acknowledged the possibility that the joint fighter element of the project could fail even if other technologies survive.