Something is moving in the corridors of the German government, and this time it is not a statement of intent destined to fade in parliamentary debate. Beyond the nail in the coffin of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (Fcas) project, the government has approved the draft of the new German aeronautical strategy. Previewed by Handelsblatt before the official presentation at the International Aerospace Exhibition (Ila) in Berlin, held from June 10 to 14, this plan outlines a fifteen-year horizon and commits to a field that goes far beyond ordinary industrial planning.
THE DEFINITIVE FAREWELL TO FCAS
The most disruptive news on the eve of Ila is, however, the end of the Fcas project, the sixth-generation fighter jet that Germany, France, and Spain had started together. A knot that no one seemed able to untie and that risked strangling even alternative ambitions.
The final word was given by Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself, who reportedly communicated directly to French President Emmanuel Macron that the construction of the joint aircraft will not proceed. This was also reported by Handelsblatt, rich in scoops these days regarding the aerospace industry, citing government sources. A decision that formally closes a stalemate that had lasted for years.
Not everything in the program ends up in the archive, however. Berlin and Paris intend to continue jointly developing the so-called “system of systems,” the digital architecture that was supposed to connect the fighter jet with drones and satellites, and the concrete division of tasks will be on the table at the next Franco-German ministerial council, scheduled for July 17.
Official reactions from Paris are naturally awaited: Macron had been one of the main sponsors of the project, which failed – according to Berlin’s version – because the French manufacturer Dassault wants to lead the project unconditionally. The result was an impasse that dragged on for years.
A STRATEGY FOR FIFTEEN YEARS
The German government’s aeronautical strategy, which spans the timeframe of three five-year plans, goes beyond the failure of Fcas and probably already took it into account. It talks about renewable fuels, military sovereignty, independence from non-European suppliers: the government assigns itself the task of making Germany “a leading nation in the sector,” with resources allocated up to two billion euros for the period 2030-2039.
The sector’s numbers give a measure of what is at stake. Sixty-two billion euros in annual turnover, 130,000 employees, almost seven out of ten products exported abroad: the German aerospace industry is one of the few sectors that has not lost ground in recent years. On the contrary. Between 2024 and 2025 it recorded a 19% growth, and the military component did even better, with a 35% leap reflecting the wave of rearmament underway on a European scale.
The data was released by the Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie (Bdli), the trade association of German aerospace operators, which however raised specific reservations about the government document. “We lack binding commitments, clear priorities, measurable intermediate goals, and an implementation process with defined deadlines,” the association stated. Translated: the strategy accurately captures the field but does not yet say who must do what and when. In short, the project lacks concreteness.
On the front of immediate measures, however, something has already been done. The government has decided to cut air traffic control fees and the air traffic tax, two levies that in recent years had made German airports less attractive compared to European competitors, pushing some airlines – especially the aggressive low-cost ones, Ryanair above all – to divert routes and operations elsewhere.
RENEWABLE FUELS AND ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
There is one point where the industrial vision and the current geopolitical reality overlap quite sharply, and that is fuels. Aviation accounts for between 3 and 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activity, and European regulatory pressure to reduce this share shows no sign of easing. The draft foresees investing in the development of alternative engines, including hydrogen ones, and promoting domestic production of renewable fuels, aiming to make the German industry a global reference in this area.
But there is also a more immediate and contingent reason. For over three months Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, with effects felt along the entire supply chain of raw materials and crude oil. Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder, interviewed by Handelsblatt, clarified that Germany produces internally about half of the kerosene it needs and imports the rest. For now, the situation holds, he said, but he also added that if the Gulf crisis is not resolved, “this could cause problems, sooner or later.”
This is not an alarm, but it is one of the few times a government member uses such direct tones on an energy supply issue.
The government’s aeronautical strategy acknowledges the urgency and includes among its objectives the structural reduction of dependence on fuel and raw material suppliers outside Europe.
DEFENSE AND INDUSTRIAL SOVEREIGNTY
The military chapter is perhaps the densest in implications. The document speaks of a “strong industrial core” as a necessary condition for state sovereignty, and specifies that independence from external technological suppliers (the United States are not named, but the reference is transparent) is not a secondary goal but a premise.
Almost 230 companies in Germany currently work in the field of military drones and unmanned aviation, and the strategy frames them as “an asset to develop and protect,” defining this segment as “fundamental to security and industrial policy.”
On the civilian side, the government declares its intention to oversee the value chain in European cooperation programs, starting with projects within the Airbus group, in which Germany participates alongside France. The declared goal: to ensure that a significant share of work and employment remains on German territory. The document mentions in this regard the new generation jet for short and medium-haul routes, the program that should redesign the parameters of commercial aviation at least until the middle of the century.
