Key facts
- An Airbus-led consortium of eight defense firms will launch 'Team Gen 6' in Berlin.
- The project is a German-backed initiative for a sixth-generation fighter jet.
- This new project aims to replace the collapsed Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program.
- The FCAS program collapsed due to months of tensions between Airbus and French manufacturer Dassault.
- The consortium has submitted a vision paper to the German Defence Minister for a next-generation combat aircraft.
- Germany is also considering alternatives, including purchasing US-made F-35 fighter jets.
An Airbus-led alliance of eight defense firms will launch 'Team Gen 6' in Berlin, a German-backed sixth-generation fighter jet project intended to replace the collapsed Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program. The initiative follows Berlin and Paris abandoning the FCAS project due to months of tensions between Airbus and French manufacturer Dassault.
The consortium aims to develop a next-generation fighter jet and is expected to unveil further details at the ILA air show. The companies have submitted a position paper to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius outlining their vision and are urging the government to ensure contracts are awarded fully and on time by the second half of 2026.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that the project is 'conceivable' but that Berlin is also considering alternatives, including purchasing additional US-made F-35 fighter jets or joining other aircraft development programs. Problems within FCAS came to a head in the summer of 2025 when Dassault pushed for greater control of the program, frustrating politicians in Berlin and Airbus executives. The collapse of FCAS, launched in 2017 and joined by Spain in 2019, is seen as a setback for European defense cooperation.