The collapse of the Franco-German Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is not merely a bureaucratic stumble. It is a loud, clanging bell tolling for the death of yet another grand European project that promised to unite the continent under the banner of high-tech military cooperation. The truth is more sordid: France and Germany cannot agree on who gets to be top pilot in the cockpit.
Paris wants to maintain its industrial sovereignty and independence from the United States; Berlin wants to buy American and keep its options open. But the real tragedy here is not that two historically prickly nations have failed to cooperate. It is that the rest of Europe—including Britain—has stood by, wringing its hands and hoping for a miracle.
The FCAS collapse leaves a gaping hole in European defence at a time when Russia is rewriting borders with artillery and China is testing hypersonic weapons in the Pacific. The UK, having already made its own foray into the sixth-generation fighter game with the Tempest programme, now has an opening to seize the mantle of European air power leadership. But to do so, it must abandon its reflexive ambivalence toward the continent.
No more half-hearted, 'Brexit means Brexit' platitudes. The UK needs to offer a credible, sovereign alternative that does not rely on American whim or German indecision. The Franco-German failure is an opportunity for Britain to rebuild its defence industry as a force of national prestige and European necessity.
If we miss this chance, we will be left with little more than a museum of broken treaties and cancelled contracts. The time for polite negotiations is over. The UK must lead, or watch the skies become someone else's domain.
