Following the collapse of the European ’'s Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, a new German-led fighter jet initiative is taking shape.
A consortium of eight Airbus-led companies, dubbed ’Team Gen 6‘, will be operational in Berlin’ on Thursday, aviation giant AFP’ye said.
The alliance aims to develop a new generation of fighter jets, and more details are expected to be revealed at the signing ceremony to be held during the ILA air show in the German capital of ’.
The initiative comes after months of tension between Airbus and French manufacturer Dassault, with Berlin and Paris’ abandoning the FCAS project on Monday.
Airbus said the companies had submitted a position document summarizing the visions of German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius’a sixth-generation fighter jets.
The consortium is urging the German government to ensure that contracts are made in “tam and on time by the second half of 2026, the news agency reported, citing access to the newspaper.
A source involved in the project said the agreement could be signed privately by participating companies as early as Wednesday.
Germany will largely lead the “Team Gen 6” project.
In addition to Airbus’, the alliance includes European missile manufacturer MBDA and six German companies: Hensoldt, Diehl Defence, MTU Aero Engines, Liebherr, Autoflug and Rohde & Schwarz.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on Tuesday that the project was “ak-prone and a possibility”, but Berlin’in said it was considering alternatives, including buying additional US-made F-35 fighter jets or participating in other aircraft development programs.
Pistorius said “ talks with various ” stakeholders on the issue had been going on for months.
Problems within FCAS culminated in the summer of 2025 when Dassault’ pushed for more control of the program, angering politicians and Airbus executives at Berlin’.
Launched in 2017 and joined by Spain’ in 2019, FCAS was seen as the flagship project of European defence cooperation. Its collapse is seen as a failure to strengthen European ’'s military capabilities in the face of growing security threats from Russia’.
