Germany looks to the United States: new F-35s ready, but the European FCAS fighter is struggling
According to recent reports collected by Reuters, Germany is seriously considering increasing its order for US-made F-35 fighter jets . This move would deepen Berlin's dependence on American military technology, but it would also deal a severe blow to European strategic autonomy, a concept historically dear to Paris.
The context for this potential reversal is the profound crisis of the FCAS (Future Combat Air System) program . This €100 billion Franco-German project, launched in 2017 to develop the sixth-generation fighter jet intended to replace the Rafale and Eurofighter aircraft starting in 2040, is currently bogged down by chronic industrial rivalries.
Fleet numbers and the European stalemate
Germany has already ordered 35 F-35s by 2022 , and that number is now set to double. Although German government and Ministry of Defense spokespeople have formally denied any imminent decisions, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has admitted that the fate of the FCAS will be clear within days.
The F-35 fighter replaces the Tornado fleet, but also adds air superiority capabilities if necessary. It is also authorized to carry nuclear warheads within NATO, something that would not be permitted under the FCAS. Furthermore, it exists, while the sixth-generation fighter is only a distant project, and this is a significant factor.
US Air Force F-35 Lightning II. (US Army photo by Sgt. Scyrrus Corregidor)
The economic perspective and German pragmatism
From a strictly macroeconomic and industrial perspective, the purchase of additional F-35s represents a pragmatic choice, but it raises questions about the continent's industrial policy. From a Keynesian perspective, massive public defense spending should act as a catalyst for European industry, stimulating aggregate demand and ensuring domestic technological development. However, conflicts between French and German defense firms are blocking this potential economic multiplier, driving capital toward overseas giants. Ultimately, however, it seems that Airbus would have no significant industrial impact in either case.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself recently raised very practical doubts about the real utility of developing, at exorbitant costs, a sixth-generation manned fighter. Merz publicly questioned whether, in twenty years, such an aircraft would still make sense in a landscape dominated by unmanned systems.
The purchase of new Lockheed Martin jets would buy Berlin time to find alternative solutions. This makes it clear that Germany's involvement in the FCAS program is merely formal (perhaps limited to drones or the "combat cloud"), but also that even Germany is becoming skeptical about future Eurofighter developments.
A Eurofighter that, with the CCA, could extend its service life
The article Germany looks to the United States: new F-35s ready, but the European FCAS fighter is struggling comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-germania-guarda-agli-stati-uniti-pronti-nuovi-f-35-ma-il-caccia-europeo-fcas-arranca/ on Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:16:08 +0000.