Europe’s next-generation fighter jet project may collapse if row continues, says warplane maker
France and Germany’s next-generation fighter jet project could soon be “dead”, one of the two companies tasked with delivering it has warned, amid a worsening corporate rift over who gets to build the aircraft.Dassault Aviation, France’s leading warplane maker, said Airbus’s defence arm – which represents Germany and Spain – needed to cooperate on the €100bn programme otherwise it would collapse.“Airbus doesn’t want to work with Dassault, full stop.I take note.I never said I didn’t want to work with Airbus or with the Germans,” said Éric Trappier, Dassault’s chief executive, via an interpreter while presenting the company’s financial results on Wednesday.
“If Airbus maintains its position of not wanting to work with Dassault, the matter is dead,” he added.The two companies have been locked in a dispute over how to share the work on the jet component of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), with Dassault claiming it should take the lead and that Airbus should take a backseat.The wide-ranging project, which will also include autonomous drones and a futuristic “combat communications cloud”, was announced nearly nine years ago but has since come to represent Europe’s inability to cooperate effectively on defence as the region seeks to rearm.Trappier said: “Dassault was the selected leader … I understand that Airbus doesn’t like that decision but we are making sure that we comply with the contract.”He also disputed the assertion by the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, that the planned warplane did not suit Germany’s needs.
The German military did not need a nuclear-capable fighter, while France did, Merz said last month, insisting it was “not a political dispute” but a technical one between the two countries,Trappier said: “I’ve heard what the chancellor said,I know that he’s now talking about having two planes instead of one,And that could be explained by the fact that there are different operational needs [between the two countries],“My highest authorities here in France say we have similar operational needs and that there is agreement at an operational level.
”Last month, Guillaume Faury, Airbus’s chief executive, also suggested splitting the scheme into two separate warplanes to keep the other components alive,France, Germany and Spain are expected to decide soon whether to move to the next stage of the programme, or drop the jet and move forward with the other elements,There have also been suggestions Germany could leave the project in favour of Britain’s rival global combat aircraft programme (GCAP), also known as Tempest,The warplane, which is being developed with Italy and Japan, is due to take to the skies five years earlier than the FCAS, in 2035,Tufan Erginbilgiç, the boss of Rolls-Royce, which is building the engines for the British jet, told the Guardian he would “definitely be open” to Germany joining the scheme.
Rachel Reeves should scrap the North Sea windfall tax now
The chancellor’s failure to reform or remove the energy profits levy (EPL) – AKA the North Sea windfall tax – in her spring forecast was a case of “political expediency and more to do with putting one byelection result before the economic needs of the country”. Who said that? Some Tory or Reform politician being opportunist as war in Iran puts the UK’s energy import dependency in the spotlight?Actually, no, it was the general secretary of the GMB union, Gary Smith, on Wednesday, demonstrating once again that views on the North Sea oil and gas do not fit neatly into a left-right divide. He has been making the principled case for an orderly transition in energy for ages, warning that decarbonising via deindustrialising costs jobs and will end up pushing voters rightwards.As it happens, one suspects Rachel Reeves’ silence on the EPL in her statement – despite heavy Westminster rumours that something was in the offing – was probably also motivated by war in Iran and spikes in the prices of oil and gas. It is harder, politically speaking, to reform a windfall tax if there is a chance that windfall conditions are returning
How will war in the Middle East affect your finances?
The war in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, but gyrations in financial markets and surging energy prices threaten a new cost of living crisis in the UK.Here is how it could affect your finances.Mortgage holders benefited from cheaper home loans in recent months after the Bank of England cut interest rates four times in 2025 to bring the base rate down to 3.75%. But that could be about to change
Sam Altman admits OpenAI can’t control Pentagon’s use of AI
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, told employees on Tuesday that his company does not control how the Pentagon uses their artificial intelligence products in military operations. Altman’s claims on OpenAI’s lack of input come amid increased scrutiny of how the military uses AI in war and ethics concerns from AI workers over how their technology will be deployed. “You do not get to make operational decisions,” Altman told employees, according to reports by Bloomberg and CNBC.“So maybe you think the Iran strike was good and the Venezuela invasion was bad. You don’t get to weigh in on that,” Altman reportedly said
Elon Musk takes witness stand in trial over Twitter takeover
Elon Musk testified Wednesday in a trial brought by Twitter investors, who allege the billionaire committed securities fraud as he was buying the social media company in 2022. The class-action lawsuit alleges Musk agreed to buy Twitter but then waffled for months, attacking the company with the goal of bringing down the stock price to get a better bargain.After contentious legal wrangling, Musk did eventually buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, his original offer, totalling around $44bn. His lawyers have argued that he did not aim to lower Twitter’s stock price or hurt its investors
‘It’s a generous deal’: McIlroy’s surprise at Rahm not accepting DP World Tour offer
Dust was yet to settle on Luke Donald’s commitment to a third successive stint as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain when Rory McIlroy highlighted the elephant in the locker room.McIlroy, in a sentiment shared by other European players, finds it hard to fathom why Jon Rahm has not reached agreement to make his participation at Adare Manor next September straightforward. Rahm’s Ryder Cup involvement sits in serious jeopardy amid a dispute with the DP World Tour. McIlroy calmly warned that the biennial contest matters more than any single individual.In news first revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday morning, Donald will seek to back up successful captaincies in Rome and New York with Europe’s Adare defence in 2027
Lou Holtz, legendary college football coach and broadcaster, dies at age of 89
Lou Holtz, one of the most revered coaches in the history of college football, has died at the age of 89. He had entered hospice care in January, shortly after his birthday.A statement from his family said Holtz would be “remembered for his enduring values of faith, family, service and an unwavering belief in the potential of others”.Holtz, whose affable personality helped him build a successful broadcasting career after his retirement from coaching, led Notre Dame to a national championship in 1988. He also had a successful career at Arkansas, where he went 11-1 in his debut season in 1977, upsetting Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl
Europe’s next-generation fighter jet project may collapse if row continues, says warplane maker
Google faces lawsuit after Gemini chatbot allegedly instructed man to kill himself
X to ban users from earning revenue if they post unlabelled AI-generated war videos
Nvidia and UK Wealth Fund invest in British autonomous driving startup Oxa
What was really behind Jack Dorsey laying off nearly half of Block’s staff?
OpenAI amends Pentagon deal as Sam Altman admits it looks ‘sloppy’