Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron have agreed to “no longer continue the construction of a common combat aircraft”, we learned on Monday June 8 from the German government. For months, the Franco-German-Spanish combat aircraft project, the Scaf program, had been stalled against a backdrop of German-French tensions and between Airbus and Dassault.
In February, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had already openly doubted his future. This time, he seems to have been buried for good.
“The French president and the German chancellor have reached the shared conclusion that the companies (Airbus and Dassault Aviation, Editor’s note) cannot agree on the construction of a common combat aircraft,” indicates the German government. “They recognize this reality. Federal Chancellor Merz therefore suggested to President Macron that he no longer pursue the construction of a joint combat aircraft,” he adds.
A plane but also drones
Launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel, joined by Spain two years later, the Scaf is a system which includes not only an aircraft but also drones linked together by an innovative digital communication system, “a combat cloud”.
According to the German government, “the real core of Scaf must be continued as a European system of systems”. “It’s sort of the nervous system that connects planes, drones and other components to form an integrated whole,” he adds.
It specifies that the French and German defense ministries “must formulate a common and contemporary work plan for cooperation in the defense industry, focused on a few realistic and relevant projects”, during the Franco-German council of ministers in Germany in June.
