Germany, France, Spain to discuss fighter jet programme in October, says Berlin

By Sabine Siebold and Andrei Khalip

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement on Thursday, Berlin/Madrid (Reuters) -Germany, France and Spain’s defense ministers FCAS will solve the options for putting FCAS Joint Fighter Aircraft program.

Pistorius, who acknowledges that the project continues to encounter mishaps, said that the ministers would determine the blocks and solutions that stumbled before offering options for a final decision later in the year.

“We will all come together and we will need to be put aside by one or the other or the other or the other.

Berlin blames the French industry for blocking the next stage in the development of the FCAS program and is estimated to cost 100 billion euros ($ 117 billion) by demanding the only leadership of the project.

The Dassault aviation of France, which is responsible for the core crew of the project, refrained from commenting.

Airbus and Indra have also included French Rafale and German and Spanish Eurofighter with a sixth generation of fighter aircraft.

However, they contradict the composition of the Berlin and Paris consortium. A defense industry source told Reuters in July, France said that Germany asked for an 80% working share in FCAs.

According to defense sources, differences may endanger the launch of the second stage planned until the end of this year.

Pistorius said that a decision on whether the second stage of the project will be initiated will not be taken in the fourth quarter.

When asked which options are available to bring the project back to the end of the year, he said:

“The answer is quite simple: the contracts are hit for compliance … If there is a wish for a change, they are only possible after the new negotiations between the partners.”

“Something is clear: This process should not continue for a long time … Now we need to gain speed because the project does not allow any further delay.”

Robles said that Spain is connected to the FCAS project.

“This is an important and basic project we need to revive, and we should revive it as much as possible,” he said. “Spain’s commitment to total and this program should continue.”

Spain said at the beginning of this month that he no longer think of buying the US-made F-35 fighter aircraft, and that he would make a choice between Eurofighter and FCAs because he focused on defense expenditures to buy European-made equipment.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that French President Emmanuel Macron had agreed to make a decision about the future of FCAS by the end of the year.

(In Berlin, Sabine Siebold and Inti Landauro, Emma Pinedo and Andrei Khalip in Madrid;