German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expects a key decision on the development of a new combat air system to be made by the end of March 2027. He said this in comments published on Saturday, UNN reports, citing dpa.
In an interview with the Funke media group, Pistorius said he would very much like Germany’s aerospace industry to play a role in creating the new fighter jet — especially after the Franco-German FCAS project was terminated earlier this year.
Germany sees no quick solution for new fighter jets after FCAS failure13.06.26, 17:55
According to him, German industry will not be able to implement such a project on its own, but it is interested in establishing cooperation with international partners.
"Two options are currently being considered. One of them is participation in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which involves the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan. We are already holding negotiations on this," he said.
"For example, we need to determine whether Germany’s involvement could lead to substantial delays, which would hardly be acceptable to all parties," Pistorius added.
The second option would involve Airbus developing its own project in cooperation with other European partners, with a view to entering service in the early 2040s.
In October, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham proposed that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz jointly develop a new fighter jet under the GCAP programme.
The Franco-German FCAS fighter-jet project collapsed because, after years of negotiations, the parties still failed to reach an agreement.