European Stealth Fighter Program Decades Behind Schedule Faces Further Infighting and ‘Difficulties’

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) next generation fighter program being jointly developed by France, Germany and Spain has continued to face growing difficulties, as the program’s viability has for years been in serious question. Most recently, disagreements between two of the primary participating firms, Airbus and Dassault, have reportedly caused major delays to the ongoing technology development phase of the program, marking the latest of several cases of infighting hampering progress. Commenting on the issue, head of air power at Airbus Defence and Space Jean-Brice Dumont stated: “Clearly, we have observed with this phase, difficulties in the execution and facing the problem there are different ways to look at it, different types of problem statements. We have to go faster. I think that’s one key motto of the program. We have to accelerate.”While “we are not stopping, we are reflecting on how to do it differently to ensure that we meet the scheduled objectives that the nations have set us,” he added. He cited “Connectivity, interoperability” as primary factors holding the program back. Earlier that day, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier advocated that his firm should take greater control over the fighter program, after having repeatedly raised questions regarding its viability if serious changes were not made.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/17/article_6852016f184397_63467950.png" title="Chinese Heavyweight Sixth Generation Fighter Flight Prototype" >The FCAS program is&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/dassault-chief-highlights-european-sixth-gen-fighter-could-come-25-years-behind-u-s-and-china">not expected</a>&nbsp;to produce a fighter for over two decades, with Trappier having&nbsp; elaborated regarding the state of the program as early as 2021 that “[The target of] 2040 is already missed, because we already stall, and the discussions of the next phase will surely also be long… so we rather aim for the 2050s.” The fighter is thus set to enter service around 20 years behind American and Chinese sixth generation fighters, and potentially considerably later. China is making&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/worlds-largest-fighter-plane-china-ultra-long-range-sixth-gen">considerable progress&nbsp;</a>towards fielding the world’s first sixth generation fighter, and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-unveiled-stealthiest-fighter-sixth-generation">unveiled</a> two separate fighter classes both in flight testing stages in December 2024, placing considerable pressure on the United States to accelerate its own efforts. Major delays to FCAS are particularly detrimental to the French Air Force and French Navy, as European states have not developed an indigenous fifth generation fighter, even with basic ‘5- generation’ characteristics like the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/kf21-first-flight-5thgen-powerhouse">South Korean KF-21</a>. This has led a growing number of European states that would have been clients for the FCAS to show interest in or <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/f35-europe-clients-production-dominance-market">place orders for</a> the American F-35, which is currently the only post-fourth generation fighter in production in the Western world. The Germany Defence Ministry, which had <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/german-once-fired-its-air-force-chief-for-supporting-the-f-35-now-it-will-order-f-35s-for-nuclear-bombing-missions">long strongly opposed</a> F-35 procurements, placed its first orders in 2022, and is expected to place followup orders in future.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/18/article_685201cd6a6700_18663235.jpeg" title="U.S. Air Force Sixth Generation Fighter Concept Art (Lockheed Martin)" >Delays to FCAS, and France’s reluctance to procure American fighter aircraft, have the potential to leave the country as the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-cancels-vital-e7-flying-radar-program-track-chinese-stealth">last nuclear weapons state </a>in the world without a stealth fighter, as India, Pakistan and North Korea are all poised to procure such aircraft in the near future. The French Rafale fighter, which is already considered far behind the cutting edge today, will appear increasingly obsolete moving into the 2030s without significant progress towards developing a replacement. After the French Navy in late May revealed details regarding its planned next generation aircraft carrier, which is intended to enter service around 2038, it was revealed that the ship’s air wing will still rely on the Rafale, <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/no-successor-rafales-france-carrier-generations">raising questions</a> regarding the viability of investment in a multi-billion dollar nuclear powered warship using fighters that are two generations behind. Efforts to circumvent the issue have centred around pairing the Rafale with advanced stealth drones, although the standing of the drone industries of France and Europe more broadly are also far from outstanding. Calls in the French Defence Ministry to procure the F-35 or F-47 fighter from the United States, including possibly the F-35C for the new aircraft carrier, are expected to grow.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/18/article_68520208e693c6_59367507.png" title="French Navy Rafale M Fighter on Carrier Charles de Gaulle">Commenting on the future of the FCAS, Dumont stressed the need to come to terms with the fact that a merger with the British-led Global Combat Air Programme to develop the Tempest sixth generation fighter appeared increasingly unviable. “Indeed, there are tensions, we need to see how we can bridge … that gap from a situation where … we are competitors with Rafael [and] Eurofighter and a number of other things, to that phase where we are married,” he observed. This second European program has also faced considerable difficulties and delays, leading Japan, which joined the program in 2022, to reportedly <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/f47-vs-tempest-japan-abandon-europe-america-sixth-gen" >consider leaving</a> it and procuring the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/boeing-unprecedented-investments-f47" >F-47 from the United States</a>, or otherwise expanding F-35 orders. Europe’s lack of experience developing even basic fifth generation fighters, and its serious technological and industrial limitations, have consistently brought the continent’s ability to produce sixth generation fighters into serious question, while guaranteeing that any fighters that are operationalised will not be operating on a comparable level to their Chinese and American counterparts. Without the ability to offer a modern fighter for export, European states’ positions on foreign fighter markets are also set to diminish, with competitors such as South Korea poised to take up their market share with fighters such as the KF-21. A relaxation of export restrictions for the F-35 could also allow the United States to significantly expand its market share at the expense of European market rivals.&nbsp;