Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) spoke of a "great step". The agreement "strengthens Europe's military capabilities and secures important know-how for our, but also for European industry".

"Following intensive negotiations, FCAS has now reached industrial agreements on the next phase of the program," the Federal Ministry of Defense said. Parallel to the industry negotiations, political agreement was reached on the project, which was under overall French responsibility and in which Spain is also involved.

"The political agreement at FCAS is a great step and - especially in these times - an important sign of the excellent German-French-Spanish cooperation," explained Lambrecht. "On the way towards the air forces of the future in Europe, it shows once again that we can only master the enormous challenges together."

Since August 2021, the industry has been negotiating various aspects of contract design for the next development phase of the FCAS. With the conclusion of the political talks, the way is clear for the signing of the industrial contracts.

The currently largest European armaments system, which seemed to be on the brink of collapse, was one of the major construction sites in Franco-German relations. The new fighter jet, which Germany and France want to build together with Spain, should be connected to drones, new weapons and communication systems. The two companies entrusted with this, the French fighter jet manufacturer Dassault and Airbus, whose armaments division is based in Germany, had long been rivals.

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