Italy is backing Germany's involvement in the Global Combat Aircraft Program (GCAP), a joint project with the United Kingdom and Japan to develop an advanced sixth-generation fighter, after Berlin withdrew from a competing program involving France and Spain. This was reported by the Financial Times (FT), citing Lorenzo Mariani, CEO of Italian engineering holding Leonardo.
Germany's involvement would bring long-term benefits, he told the publication. Although the GCAP partners have already agreed, as Mariani noted, to divide the work after complex negotiations, Leonardo and the British company BAE Systems are already successfully collaborating with Airbus' German defense division on the Eurofighter Typhoon. "Having another partner with financial resources and industrial experience would be good," the head of the Italian conglomerate noted.
The German government and Airbus, as the publication recalls, indicated that Berlin seeks to either lead the new project or join an existing one if its role is "significant" and commensurate with Germany's financial contribution.
According to Mariani, he is not surprised by the failure of the FCAS (Future Combat Air System) project to develop a next-generation European fighter, after Germany abandoned its implementation after several attempts by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to force Airbus and Dassault to resolve their differences.