After FCAS demise, Germany’s options include ordering more F-35 warplanes
COLOGNE, Germany — German defense leaders will go back to the drawing board in their quest for a next-generation fighter jet following the end of the once-ambitious French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System.
As the dust was still settling in Berlin from Monday’s bombshell news, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius outlined three options on Tuesday, plus a mysterious fourth path that he alluded to but left unexplained.
One option consists of buying additional stealthy F-35 jets from the United States on top of the 35 already ordered, he said on the sidelines of a meeting with his Czech counterpart, Jaromír Zůna, in Berlin.
German news outlet Der Spiegel reported last October that plans were already in the works to purchase 15 such warplanes from the U.S., to the tune of almost $3 billion.
Pistorius confirmed those plans are now on the table, saying they could be a “bridge” solution “or whatever” on the way to a next-generation weapon for Germany.
The second option entails Berlin getting involved in an existing international fighter program with sixth-generation features, Pistorius said.
Aside from a U.S. push to that end, the most obvious candidate for this path would be a British-Italian-Japanese effort, dubbed Global Combat Air Programme.
Finally, Germany could start its own program, Pistorius said, “under German leadership with Airbus and other partners.”
He said German defense leaders had been talking with Airbus about feasible options “for months,” because the end of the FCAS program had been expected.
Pistorius largely blamed unresolvable differences with French industry champion Dassault over intellectual property as well as diverging military requirements for the program’s demise.
In the end, government leaders from France and Germany were unable to compel the companies involved to cooperate, he said, as much as Paris and Berlin had wanted to.
“Knowing what we know today, we wouldn’t set up a program in this way again,” Pistorius said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany is exploring options for next-generation fighter jets following the termination of the FCAS program. One option includes purchasing an additional 15 F-35 jets from the U.S., while other possibilities involve joining an international fighter program or initiating a domestic program with Airbus. The decision comes after challenges in collaboration with French industry over intellectual property and military requirements.
- Germany is considering purchasing additional F-35 jets from the U.S.
- Plans for 15 additional F-35 jets are reportedly in the works.
- The FCAS program has ended due to unresolved differences with French industry.
- Germany may join an existing international fighter program or start its own.
- Discussions with Airbus about feasible options have been ongoing for months.