France Moves the SCAF Fighter to a New Format, National or a New Framework — EUR 2.74 Billion in 2027 to Fly an NGF Prototype
Paris, 14 October 2026
Key points
- The 2027 performance plan for programme 146 says the core of SCAF, the NGF fighter included, "formerly carried out in cooperation with Germany and Spain, will therefore be carried out in a new format, nationally or under a new cooperation framework"
- It assigns EUR 2.74 billion of commitment authority to SCAF in 2027, against about EUR 560 million of payments, to launch the second phase of demonstration work, "notably to fly the NGF prototype"; development of the operational aircraft starts in 2029, first operational capability around 2040
- Phase 1B, the joint demonstration contract notified in December 2022 and led by France, ended in summer 2026; only some work, "mainly on the combat cloud", could continue with Germany, "on terms to be defined"
- General Jérôme Bellanger, chief of staff of the Air and Space Force, told deputies on 14 October that the work will prefigure the future combat aircraft "nationally"; cooperation stays possible, "but in different frameworks"
France has written into its 2027 budget what the June break implied: the fighter at the centre of SCAF goes on without Germany, and the first large sum is for a prototype that flies.
The budget document gives the cause in one sentence: in June 2026 Germany announced its withdrawal from cooperation on the NGF, the decision Merz and Macron made public on 8 June. It names the French industrial base as Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA and Safran. Of the EUR 2.74 billion assigned, EUR 2.64 billion is to be committed in 2027; on the document's own schedule about EUR 1.47 billion of that is paid by the end of 2029, the rest later. Signal No. 169 carried the clause beside Bellanger's hearing, where he described the start as national and cooperation as possible only outside a structural partnership.
Paris commits the money in 2027 whether or not the "new cooperation framework" exists by then. The clause keeps a door open that the budget does not need: the contract is sized, scheduled and industrially French. The combat cloud has moved too. In June, Berlin's account had it continuing with Airbus, Thales and Indra; the October text says it "could" continue, on terms not yet set. Germany, meanwhile, is weighing a British offer to join GCAP. If the 2027 demonstration contract is notified to the four French primes alone, the new-framework clause will have been a courtesy in the text.
Related · After the joint FCAS fighter
- Germany and France Abandon the Joint FCAS Fighter After Eight Years
- EUMET's Fighter-Engine Funding Runs Out in September as Safran Gives Priority to French Requirements
- Eight German Companies Launch Team Gen 6 to Bid for a National Sixth-Generation Fighter
- Burnham Offers Germany a Route Into GCAP With Italy and Japan — Berlin Agrees to Explore It
