Germany, France and Spain will convene their defence ministers in October to break the impasse over the Future Combat Air System, Europe’s largest weapons programme. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said the three countries are “damned to succeed” and will present leaders with options for a final decision later in the year. The sixth-generation project, valued at more than €100 billion, aims to field a crewed fighter jet, drones and a combat-cloud network from 2040 to replace French Rafales and German and Spanish Eurofighters. Berlin accuses French industry of stalling the next development phase by insisting that Dassault Aviation assume sole prime-contractor status and an 80 % work share. Germany has warned it could exit the programme, while Spain’s Defence Minister Margarita Robles reiterated Madrid’s “total commitment” to FCAS. Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to settle the dispute by year-end. Their joint statement on 29 August also announced a letter of intent for a Franco-German “Jewel” missile early-warning initiative, the launch of a strategic dialogue on nuclear deterrence and plans to offer additional air-defence systems to Ukraine, underscoring broader military cooperation even as the flagship jet programme remains in flux.