Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleFrance, Germany, and Spain are set to resume talks on the Future Combat Air System, aiming to overcome delays and make decisions by year-end.
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) -France, Germany and Spain are set to resume high-level talks on the next phase of a major fighter project after delays caused by the recent political crisis in France, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
A ministerial meeting is planned for the week of November 24 as the three nations try to bridge differences over the next phase of the Future Combat Air System, which calls for a flying demonstrator model, two of the people said.
A third source said a meeting was planned but that its date had not yet been announced.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is separately due to meet his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin, in Paris next Monday, two of the sources said.
No comment was immediately available from the three defence ministries involved in the 100-billion-euro project to develop a system of crewed stealth fighters and packs of armed drones.
Pistorius told reporters last week that no new date for a trilateral ministerial meeting had been set, but he reiterated Germany's call for a decision on the next phase by end-year.
Berlin has blamed French industry for blocking the programme's next phase by demanding sole leadership of the project, in a coded reference to Dassault Aviation.
Dassault, which handles France's industrial participation in the project while Airbus represents Germany and Spain, has denied reports that it wants to control 80% of the project.
Pistorius said last week that he had discussed the topic with France's Vautrin, who had stated her intention to continue with the project, which is widely known as FCAS, or its French acronym, SCAF.
Speaking ahead of a recent meeting with Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles, Vautrin said there was urgency to move ahead because France's current Rafale warplanes would need to be replaced by 2040.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Tim Hepher, Inti Landauro; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is a collaborative project involving France, Germany, and Spain to develop advanced military aircraft and drone technology.
The Euro is the official currency of the Eurozone and plays a crucial role in international finance as a major reserve currency and a medium for trade.
Crewed stealth fighters are advanced military aircraft designed to evade radar detection while carrying out combat missions.
Airbus is responsible for representing Germany and Spain in the Future Combat Air System project, collaborating with other nations on the development of military technology.
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