The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has lamented this Tuesday the decision to terminate the European next-generation fighter jet project (FCAS, Future Combat Air System) due to discrepancies between Germany and France, and has announced that the Executive is studying "alternatives" so that Spain has the sixth-generation aircraft it "needs".
After years of talks, Paris and Berlin have decided to abandon the initiative in the face of differences between the partners. According to sources from the German government, Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron have concluded that the French group Dassault Aviation and the European consortium Airbus will not reach an agreement on who should lead the program.
"It is very worrying news for Europe and for its strategic economy, it was a great project and it is undoubtedly a failure," the minister said in statements to journalists in the Senate.
Robles, who reiterated that Spain "needs" a sixth-generation aircraft, stressed that the country "will do everything possible" to achieve it. Without offering concrete details, she stated that there are "many alternatives" on the table, even though the option of a common platform has been ruled out, and that the government will maintain contact with Germany, France "and other countries".
The head of Defense took the opportunity to call for a "reflection" on European defense policy and on the increase in military spending. "When the time comes for large, necessary programs, something goes wrong," she pointed out. "In this case, industrial interests have been prioritized over the security and defense interests of Europe," she concluded.