(Photo: AFP)BERLIN - Germany does not need the same new fighter jets as France, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday, signalling that Berlin could abandon a flagship joint defence project for Europe. “That’s not what we currently need in the German military,” he said. The Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) project was launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafale jet and the Eurofighters used by Germany and Spain, to come into service around 2040. The FCAS project was launched with fanfare in 2017 by Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel, with Spain joining two years later. The plan envisions not only a fighter jet but an interlinked drone swarm and a digital cloud system.

Source: Bangkok Post February 18, 2026 14:51 UTC