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News & Current Events Apr 18, 2026 at 2:12 PM

Mediation fails in dispute over Franco-German fighter jet, Handelsblatt says

Posted by Little-Chemical5006

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ALifeWellLift Apr 18, 2026 +32
From what I gather, Germany and France just have very disparate requirements which make it near impossible for them to exist on the same air frame. That's before the arguing around workshare. Have to wonder why it got this far without them realising this. Now they're in the tough situation of losing a generations worth of skills in designing jets, or buying a plane that doesn't fit their needs.
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AutonomousOrganism Apr 18, 2026 +35
Because it was a political project.
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moofie74 Apr 19, 2026 +2
all projects are.
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A_Sinclaire Apr 18, 2026 -13
Plus Germany probably did not insist on some specs as the most likely missions were peacekeeping in Africa or missions like Afghanistan. So having a sub-par jet for a theoretical war against Russia was not that big of a deal. 
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coolpall33 Apr 18, 2026 +3
From my understanding the issue isn't Germany settling for a subpar fighter, but rather France insisting that they have a nuclear and carrier compatible design (things that Germany and some other partner states dont see themselves needing)
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TWVer Apr 18, 2026 +7
It almost sounds like they need to partially decouple the requirements of both. Creating a single avionics and weapon systems platform, while pivoting to two different physical airframes which better suit the disparate requirements for each nation. They could still share aerodynamic and stealth concepts (i.e. like the MiG-29 and Su-27, or the F-22 and F-35), while being optimized for different mission sets. The avionics platform integration and weapon systems form the larger part of the R&D expenditures anyway, so a split airframe program with a common systems architecture could still leverage the effect of joint investment and development.
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yuchix Apr 18, 2026 +5
This significantly increases the chances of Germany joining the Japan-UK-Italy GCAP project as an observer.
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macross1984 Apr 18, 2026 +5
Just like people, nations have their personalities difference that can make cooperation difficult to say the least and the end result is impasse/cancellation after spending money for nothing.
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Zh25_5680 Apr 18, 2026 +5
EU fighter jet project fail #45,496 Tomorrow they will sign a letter of intent to set the scope for project #45,497
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Complete-Sort1617 Apr 18, 2026 +6
The Eurofighter: I’m tired of this grandpa! France and Germany: That’s too damn bad!
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rrnn12 Apr 18, 2026
So what now? More peace talks?
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DemonOfTheNorthwoods Apr 18, 2026 +13
France will most likely push ahead with the FCAS program, because French military doctrine states that they must have a sizable degree of independence from other nations when it’s about military hardware. You have Charles De Gaul to thank for that. As for Germany, the most likely scenario I can see them doing would be to join Great Britain, Italy and Japan in their Global Combat Air Platform program and see about contributing to that instead.
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nindza-22 Apr 19, 2026 +2
Germany, Italy and Japan. Noice lol.
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Comfortable-Face4593 Apr 18, 2026 +9
This is the way.  Let the brits lead and provide input.  Everyone wins and ends up with a great plane; see eurofighter after everyone but uk threw hissy fits over specs.
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eruditezero Apr 18, 2026 +2
Yeah the Germans will just go GCAP. It's objectively a better fit for their requirements, they don't need a 6th gen carrier aircraft anyway.
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Typingdude3 Apr 18, 2026 -13
Ha ha stuff like this is why the EU will never be a military superpower. “My needs are more important than your needs” have dictated European politics for the past 120 years with catastrophic results. Nothing changes.
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Comfortable-Face4593 Apr 18, 2026 -2
It’s already better than the USA, China and Russia.
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chief_blunt9 Apr 18, 2026 +4
At being a military superpower??
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Fluffer_Wuffer Apr 18, 2026 -1
Russia - Check (Assuming UK partakes).. US - No, but as Iran showed, size isn't everything, and Trump should have already known that. China - At present, its comparable, at least with regards to Navy and Army... Europe's issue is the world sees them as individual states - but I think in the next 5-10 years, you'll see a push for a European "NATO", which will become the foundations of a European millitary (at present, they are still quite disjointed). The other thing I'd point out, much of the US perceived power, comes from its ability to "project", which is dependant on the goodwill of allies - Given how Trump has been threatning and blackmailing those very same allies, its only a matter of time until they Invite the US to vacate the bases and logistics hubs, which would have massive repercussions for the US millitary.
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SDBolt Apr 19, 2026 +1
Russia, check? If that were true, Russia wouldn't have Crimea and a quarter of Ukraine.
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chief_blunt9 Apr 18, 2026 +1
This article is showing that they can’t work together on a jet project. How are they gonna mesh armies, navies and Air Force’s in 5-10 years lol
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Typingdude3 Apr 18, 2026 -9
??? Fantasies and Listnook memes don’t count as real defense.
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