Airbus-led consortium to launch German-backed fighter jet project after FCAS collapse

An Airbus-led alliance of eight defence firms will launch Team Gen 6 in Berlin, a German-backed sixth-generation fighter jet project intended to replace the collapsed Franco-German-Spanish FCAS programme, AFP reports. A new German-led fighter jet initiative is taking shape following the collapse of Europe's Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme. An eight-company consortium dubbed 'Team Gen 6' and led by Airbus will be launched on Thursday in Berlin, the aerospace giant told AFP. The alliance aims to develop a next-generation fighter jet and is expected to unveil further details at a signing ceremony during the ILA air show in the German capital. The initiative comes after Berlin and Paris abandoned the FCAS project on Monday following months of tensions between Airbus and French manufacturer Dassault. Airbus said the companies have already submitted a position paper to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius outlining their vision for a sixth-generation combat aircraft. The consortium is urging the German government to ensure contracts are awarded "fully and on time" by the second half of 2026, the news agency reported, citing access to the paper. A source involved in the project said the agreement could be signed privately by the participating companies as early as Wednesday. The "Team Gen 6" project would be largely led by Germany. In addition to Airbus, the alliance includes the European missile manufacturer MBDA and six German firms: Hensoldt, Diehl Defence, MTU Aero Engines, Liebherr, Autoflug and Rohde & Schwarz. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on Tuesday that the project was "conceivable and one possibility", but said Berlin was also considering alternatives, including buying additional US-made F-35 fighter jets or joining other aircraft development programmes. Pistorius said that talks with various "stakeholders" on the subject have been underway for months. Problems within FCAS came to a head in the summer of 2025 when Dassault pushed for greater control of the programme, frustrating politicians in Berlin and Airbus executives. FCAS, launched in 2017 and joined by Spain in 2019, had been considered a flagship project of European defence cooperation. Its collapse is widely seen as a setback for efforts to strengthen Europe's military capabilities in the face of growing security threats from Russia.