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TOULOUSE—Airbus said it is ready for a two-fighter approach under the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project, with CEO Guillaume Faury declaring that now is not the time for an all-uncrewed system.
“If mandated by our customers, we would support a two-fighter solution,” Faury said, while adding that the issues around the fighter should not undermine wider European efforts to work together on other FCAS elements.
Germany and France have for months been in talks about the way forward on the next-generation fighter element of FCAS. Discussions have centered on differing requirements and industrial capability asymmetries, with signs pointing to the two countries going separate ways.
The move would see France pursue an all-French option. Germany, with Spain, would look for a new way forward, including potential partnerships with others, such as Sweden and Saab, or with the Global Combat Air System program between Italy, Japan and the UK. Faury said any future partnership decision is for governments to make.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently said he wants the military to do a proper requirements assessment around the fighter ambition, which he said was lacking when his country embarked on the program with France and Spain. Among the questions Germany needs to address, he said, is: “Do we, in 20 years from now, even need a crewed combat aircraft?”
Faury said the remarks merely reflect wider thinking about the transition from crewed to uncrewed combat platforms.
“I think a lot of us believe that there will be a point in time, quite far in the future, where the manned capabilities will be, to a large extent, replaced by unmanned,” Faury said. He added, though, that “the belief at this stage is that there is still a need for a manned fighter.”
The future crewed fighter could potentially down the road also function as an uncrewed aircraft, he said.
Aside from the fighter, largely seen as the centerpiece of FCAS, other program pillars “are working well,” he said, pointing to the combat cloud, remote carrier and engine development efforts.
“We believe an ambition of this scale can only be delivered through cooperation, fostering operational interoperability and lifecycle synergies for European air forces,” he said. “The deadlock of a single pillar should not jeopardize the entire future of this high-tech European capability, which will bolster our collective defense.”
The Airbus comments came as the company published full-year results that showed defense order intake last year was greater than €22 billion ($26 billion), up 50% over the previous year. The figure also reflects defense helicopter activities, CFO Thomas Töpfer said. “We're very pleased with the trajectory that we currently have,” he said.
Airbus reported a full-year adjusted profit in its defense and space segment that had in the past struggled to make money. Still, the company took another A400M charge of €73 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting long-term cost assumptions, Töpfer said. The program was cash positive in the year, he said, after years of trying to reach that financial milestone.
The company continues to search for more A400M orders but is more upbeat about securing additional business for the airlifter given the global appetite for defense spending.
Faury said the company is engaged in promising campaigns, with additional need for A400Ms in Europe. The timing of the second wave of orders is a challenge, he said. “We are optimistic about the midterm and the long term.”
Questions also hover over the future of the delayed Eurodrone program to develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance uncrewed aircraft. Faury acknowledged, “There's an ongoing discussion between customers on the way forward.” However, he argued, “We have the majority of customers who really want this product to continue,” calling that outcome “likely.”
The company also is part of the Eurofighter Typhoon consortium that is now ramping up output. The partnership is moving to build 20 aircraft per year, up from 14, given strong demand, Faury said. The joint venture, which includes BAE Systems and Leonardo, won top-up orders from Italy and Germany last year and secured Turkey as a buyer.
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