Germany slams France's Dassault for attempted fighter jet land grab

French industry wants to reduce Germany’s role in a joint project to develop a sixth generation fighter jet, which Berlin considers problematic, an internal document reveals.

Germany’s defence ministry informed the parliament in a letter seen by Euractiv that France’s defence industry wants to lead on the core piece of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), the fighter jet.

The letter did not explicitly mention France’s Dassault Aviation, though it is the key French firm involved in the joint fighter project.

The defence ministry criticised the move as harming Germany’s industry and having grave consequences for the plan to replace existing aircraft by 2040.

Dassault did not respond to request for comment by Reuters, which first reported on the letter.

“Concessions to France in this regard would have serious consequences for the expected capabilities of the system, the participation of German industry and also for the Bundeswehr’s R&T , because French industry would gain sovereignty over the allocation of technologies and their development,” the letter reads.

The letter comes just days before French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet in the southern French town of Toulon.

Initially the two were supposed to resolve industry tensions and advance negotiations on the division of work between the companies, but Merz said on Wednesday that will not be the case.

Experts are working on a solution, an Elysée source said earlier this week.

Both countries agreed to find a solution before the end of 2025.

The issue stems from the fact that FCAS is developed jointly by French airplane maker Dassault, Germany’s Airbus and Spain’s Indra.

But Dassault has previously suggested they could build the fighter themselves, and publicly criticised Airbus leadership over the fighter jet, just as the project moves from the design phase to development.

“Negotiations on the contracts for the next phase are pending, but are being blocked by French industry due to demands for sole leadership of the aircraft,” the letter explains, confirming earlier media reports that Dassault requested 80% of the workshare.

It is for now unclear how the final division of labour will look.

Experts say Paris and Berlin are doomed to remain locked in their unhappy marriage, though other options exist.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify that the German letter does not mention Dassault by name, and that Dassault did not reply to request for comment from Reuters.

(cp)