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Disagreements between Dassault and Airbus
Due to disagreements over the division of labor, uncertainty about its role as prime contractor for the Next Generation Fighter (fighter jet), and
intellectual property, the CEO of Dassault Aviation publicly mentioned the possibility of a Plan B with a development similar to the
nEUROn project when he spoke to the
French Senate in March 2021.
The issue of intellectual property and a possible
transfer of technology from France to Germany has led to a dispute between Airbus and Dassault. The French side feared losing its economic and technological leadership as the EU's leading aerospace company if German and Spanish companies were to jointly take over two-thirds of the development and production. In May 2021, the participating nations mutually agreed to continue the FCAS project. Several sources from the defense industry were contacted by the French business newspaper
Challenges and denied that an agreement had been reached. One source described the report of an agreement as "a communication stance" and "misleading statement" by the three countries. The CEO of Dassault said there was "no agreement on the budget or intellectual property."
[29]
At the
Paris Air Show in July 2025,
Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, once again called for a larger share of the FCAS for French industry. In doing so, he called into question existing agreements on the division of tasks. He hinted at an alternative exit from the program. Shortly thereafter, it became known that
Dassault Aviation would receive 80% of the FCAS workshare, which would be a significant disadvantage for the German defense industry.
[30]
Shortly thereafter, then-Armed Forces Minister
Lecornu visited Germany and met with his counterpart
Boris Pistorius. The
German Federal Ministry of Defense issued a press release addressing issues (diplomatically referred to as “challenges”) with the FCAS and
Main Ground Combat System projects.
[31] On October 5, 2025, Pistorius publicly threatened to end the FCAS project. He said he would meet with his colleagues from France and Spain as soon as the next French government was in place.
[32]
In mid-November 2025, French Defense Minister
Catherine Vautrin said publicly that Germany currently did not have the capacity to build a fighter jet.
[33] Mediation between the companies failed in early 2026,
[34] with an expectation that politicians in France and Germany would then decide the fate of the project.
[35] Alternatively, some have speculated Germany and Spain could join the
Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), an advanced project involving the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan.
[36]
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If Dassault wanted to cooperate with TAI, the latter would bring so much more to the table regarding time frame, scheduling, reduced red tape, and quality.
We are behind France when it comes to aviation and engine technology, especially Dassault, and Safran (SNECMA) but we have innovative tech from TAI, ASELSAN, METEKSAN and HAVELSAN. Also cost and expenditures won't be anyway near Airbus'.