12 June 2026
Pistorius: No rush to decide on new Gen 6 jet project after FCAS collapse
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the annual Berlin Air Show on Friday that the government will need time to consider a bid from a new consortium to build next-generation, multi-role fighter jets for the German military.
This comes just days after the collapse of the 9-year-old Franco-German FCAS Presitz project in Germany, amid a dispute between French aviation giants Dassault and Airbus.
Vultures immediately started circling around the FCAS carcass with an eye on new government grants. A consortium of eight companies calling themselves “Team Gen 6” put their name forward to collaborate on a sixth-generation fighter jet.
“I’m very happy with this initiative, this kind of initiative is needed now,” Pistorius said at the ILA air show. “But we must look very carefully at what can be done with whom, and how quickly, and at what cost, and with what involvement of German industry.”
Pistorius said there is still some ground left to reach a decision.
The team releasing the application The Gen 6 alliance includes Airbus, MTU, Hensoldt, MBDA, Autoflug, Diehl Defense, Liebherr and Rohde & Schwarz.
Michael Scholborn, head of Airbus Defense and Space, said at ILA that he was interested in a new “compact” solution that would focus on military needs and not suffer from excessive complexity as many countries want to pack into one design. He said he thinks a realistic completion date could be the mid-2030s or mid-2040s.
“Unlike last time, we must harmonize political, military and industrial interests,” he said.