Europe's indigenous "sixth-generation fighter" has yet to make an appearance, and Germany and France have already started arguing
As is well known, since last year when China's two new fighter jets made their debut, many countries that were developing fifth-generation fighters have raised their projects to the next level: from fifth-generation fighters to "sixth-generation fighters" - typical examples of this are the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) by the UK, Japan, and Italy, as well as the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) by France, Germany, and Spain.
However, after it was revealed that Japan's interest in GCAP had significantly decreased and the project might fall apart, news also emerged that FCAS might be in trouble.
On the 18th, the U.S. website "Politico" Europe edition reported that Germany is considering removing France from the FCAS program and replacing it with Sweden or the UK - the report pointed out that this move highlights "Berlin's frustration" and may pose risks for the future of FCAS.
According to U.S. media, the reason Germany wants to remove France from the FCAS program is its dissatisfaction with its own share in the project: Dassault, a French company, not only demands 80% of the R&D share for the next-generation weapons system (NGWS) of the aircraft, but Airbus even wants to get involved in the development and manufacturing of some parts of the German aircraft, which has completely intensified the conflict between Germany and France.
Nevertheless, if FCAS ultimately falls apart due to the quarrel between Germany and France, it would not be surprising, because like GCAP, FCAS itself is also a "big promise" product: one only sees the PPTs from Europe and Japan blowing things up, but there is almost no prototype aircraft in sight.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1843689324371968/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.