The Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (SCAF) is not dead, but it is on probation. French and German mediators Laurent Collet-Billon and Frank Haun have been granted a ten-day extension, until 28 April, to try to restart the project, defence minister Catherine Vautrin announced. The programme — meant to replace the Rafale and the Eurofighter in 2040 — pits Dassault Aviation against Airbus Defence & Space in open conflict.
A first study phase has already been funded to the tune of €3bn; the stakes now turn on opening a second phase budgeted in 2022 at roughly €8bn. The chief executives of Airbus DS and Dassault have not spoken for months. The mediators' reports, delivered on Saturday as scheduled, focused on three axes: intellectual property, workshare and export rights — all particularly difficult.
In Germany, several voices — including Volker Mayer-Lay, air-force rapporteur for the conservative Bundestag group — considered the project all but buried over the weekend. In France, the DGA insisted mediation was continuing. Announced in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, SCAF has become, for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a point of principle: he does not want to be accused, as with the aborted EADS-BAE merger, of having torpedoed a European project. Source: Les Echos, 22 April 2026, Anne Drif.