by JEF France and JEF Germany
The Future Combat Air System – Europe’s most ambitious defense project since… forever – has been officially buried. June 8, 2026. After nine years of talks, roughly €100 billion on the table, and a timeline that already slipped from 2040 to 2045, France and Germany pulled the plug.
For those who haven’t followed every twist: FCAS was supposed to be the sixth-generation fighter jet program of Europe. A new combat aircraft, swarms of armed drones, and a digital combat cloud connecting it all. Designed to replace the Rafale and the Eurofighter by 2040. Launched in 2017 by Macron and Merkel, with Spain joining in 2019. Flagship. Lighthouse. Whatever buzzword you want.
What killed it? Not technology. Not money. Ego.
Specifically: Dassault Aviation (CEO Éric Trappier) vs. Airbus Defence and Space (CEO Guillaume Faury). A fight over who leads, who gets how much of the work, who holds the intellectual property. Dassault wanted to be prime contractor and keep 80% of the fighter pillar. Airbus wanted the 50/50 partnership they thought they had signed up for.
Macron and Merz tried to save it. A dinner in Brussels on March 18. A mediation process that collapsed on April 18. A summit in Cyprus on April 23. Then the final word at the EU Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro on June 6. Merz told Macron: it’s over.
And honestly? We have to ask: What is a European single market even for if, at the end of the day, companies still think in national silos? If, despite clear political will, they can’t overcome their own narrow interests? Not only we citizens of Europe have to build bridges and overcome borders, companies in our member states need to develop a genuine European understanding and responsibility for their activities. In the end they are the biggest beneficiaries of the European Single Market, so we also expect them to put their interests aside for the greater good.
Why we’re talking about this as young federalists?
Let’s be real: talking about fighter jets, „war readiness,“ and military defense isn’t exactly easy for us as young European federalists in 2026. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not the Europe of Erasmus, Green Deal, and open borders that we usually fight for.
But here’s the thing: if flagship projects like FCAS crash after nine years because two companies can’t agree on who’s boss, we can’t just look away. This isn’t about corporate profits. It’s about our future.
The failure of FCAS is a symbol of a deeper problem: even when our political leaders – for once in their lives – show some political will, they still don’t have enough power to enforce European interests over corporate interests. Macron and Merz wanted this to work. They couldn’t make it happen. Not because they didn’t try but because the institutional framework doesn’t exist.
That’s the federalist lesson. Intergovernmentalism doesn’t work. You can’t build European defense on voluntary cooperation between national champions.
Only a real European Defence Union can break national deadlocks. We’re talking about:
- Joint procurement under the EU: so that no Dassault vs. Airbus drama can hold a €100 billion project hostage
- Standardization of equipment: because 27 different tank models and 13 different fighter types aren’t a defense strategy, they’re a subsidy program for national industries
- A European defence minister accountable to the European Parliament – not to national shareholders
- A holistic security agenda that includes civilian infrastructure and a resilient civil society. Exactly what our #JugendVerteidigtEuropa campaign is about.
Security can’t be organized nationally. Period. Our campaign says it clearly: defending Europe means defending democracy, countering hybrid warfare, securing freedom, strengthening social cohesion, and yes, building European military capabilities through cooperation.
And now? France will build its own sixth-generation fighter funded partly through the €4 billion Rafale F5 upgrade. Airbus will lead a German program, possibly with Spain and Sweden’s Saab. Two separate jets. Two separate price tags. A European defense landscape even more fragmented than before.
This at a time when the US is questioning NATO guarantees, Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and drones keep violating NATO airspace. Makes sense, right? (Spoiler: it doesn’t.)
We, JEF Germany and JEF France, call on our political leaders to stand up for Europe and for our generation. The FCAS collapse isn’t the end of the story. It’s proof that the old way doesn’t work. Now we need the courage to build something new. A federation that can actually defend its citizens. Defending Europe means advancing Europe.
