All the admonitions and reminders from the French side leading the project in the form of Defense Minister Florence Parly seem to have (almost) been to no avail. According to the latest statements from Berlin, the Bundestag budget committee will release further millions for the joint Franco-German 6th generation fighter aircraft system project, which began in 2018, next week, but from the French point of view, the German funding step is likely to be a bitter disappointment.
It only provides for the release of funds for initial technological preparatory work by the companies involved, phase 1A. This is to cost 77.5 million euros each for Germany and France – 50 million euros of which will be spent this year and the rest in 2021.
However, the French government has been urging the German government for months to quickly enter the first development phase of the complete system concept, including the production of an aircraft prototype. The costs for this are estimated at eight billion euros. However, the current German coalition is unlikely to muster sufficient political strength for this expensive project phase; it has only been announced rather meagrely that further funding will only be approved once the preliminary technological work has been completed in 2021. From a German perspective, decisions on entering this important phase are not considered necessary until 2022, as it is scheduled to last until 2027. A first flight originally planned for 2026 (including the new Safran/MTU engine) therefore no longer seems feasible. The final development phase for the overall system comprising the aircraft and accompanying drone and cruise missile swarms is scheduled to begin in 2030. The overall system is then to be deployed from 2040, starting with the phase-out of Typhoon and Rafále. The total cost of the project over the decades is estimated at up to an astronomical 500 billion euros. In light of these volumes, the Handelsblatt is interesting. According to this, the prestigious project could even fail after the 18-month planning phase. Quote: “The activities of the phase now planned do not constitute a precedent for the actual realization of the project.”
Update: Reuters quoted a French politician in mid-February 2021 who openly criticized the cooperation with Germany: “Honestly, it would be a lot easier for us to work with the British because we share the same military culture.” The Handelsblatt now sees Europe’s largest defense project seriously threatened with failure due to national jealousies.
