BERLIN — Germany and France are expected to reach a political decision on the future of their troubled joint fighter jet project on Dec. 17, people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.

The date is emerging as the key moment to settle months of stalled negotiations over Europe’s effort to build a next-generation combat aircraft.

The Future Combat Air System was launched in 2017 to replace the Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon in the 2040s. Conceived as Europe’s most ambitious defense initiative, FCAS combines a sixth-generation fighter jet with accompanying unmanned drones and a shared “combat cloud” designed to link aircraft and sensors across different countries. 

But years of industrial disputes — particularly between France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany’s Airbus — have repeatedly held back progress. Spain is also a member of the consortium but its participation has been much less problematic.

The target timing would allow Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron to take part in that day’s EU–Western Balkans summit in Brussels with an aligned stance on FCAS.

A German chancellery spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. The French Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

While no final decision has been taken, officials and industry figures say the working expectation is that the program is likely to continue in a scaled-down or reconfigured form.

According to people familiar with the matter, one option is that the program would continue as an overarching framework for shared technologies like the combat cloud and sensors. The most disputed element, the fighter jet, could end up splitting into separate national airframes, meaning each country would build its own version of the aircraft instead of sharing a single design.

France would rather operate a 15-ton warplane, which is light enough to land on aircraft carriers, while Germany is more inclined toward a 18-ton aircraft aimed at air superiority. 

France also walked out of the Eurofighter project, quitting over disputes about design authority and operational requirements, and instead developed the Rafale.

Officials said the outcome could still shift ahead of Dec. 17. But the date is now widely viewed inside government and industry as the moment of political clarity after months of gridlock over workshare and design leadership. 

Following talks last week between Macron and Merz in Berlin, German air force leaders drafted a “decision roadmap” including a “mid-December” deadline to strike a deal, Reuters reported first.