Meeting on future of European fighter jet canceled

A tripartite ministerial meeting on the future of the 100 billion euro project of France, Germany and Spain to develop a European fighter jet has been postponed due to the political crisis in France, a German defense ministry spokesman told Reuters. The defense ministers of the three countries were due to meet in mid-October to remove obstacles blocking the next phase of development of the project, known as the "Future Combat Air System" (FCAS), the spokesman said on Tuesday evening. But France was left with only a caretaker government after outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Le Corneille resigned along with his government on Monday, hours after the cabinet was announced. French President Emmanuel Macron is now looking for a sixth prime minister in less than two years, Reuters recalls. "I confirm that the meeting will not take place in mid-October", the spokesman said. "We would like to schedule it as soon as possible, when there is a new French defense minister." Macron's office did not comment on the news. French companies "Dassault Aviation", "Airbus" and "Indra" are involved in the plan to replace France's "Rafale" and Germany's and Spain's "Eurofighter" with sixth-generation fighters by 2040. However, the project has been held up by delays and disputes between companies and governments over the division of work and intellectual property rights, Reuters notes. /PY/ Source: www.bta.bg