Tom Enders, president of the German Society for Foreign Policy and former chief executive of Airbus and EADS, warns against developing a domestic German fighter aircraft. In a guest contribution for the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND) he argues that doing so would risk a “gigantic misallocation of resources”. Enders wrote this in response to pressure from the German Aviation Industry Association (BDLI) and the trade union IG Metall.
The debate has sharpened recently as the joint French‑Spanish‑German fighter‑air‑system project, Future Combat Air System (FCAS), faces potential failure. The program is estimated to cost around €100 billion. Enders criticises the 2017 German government decision to collaborate with Paris rather than London-an outcome largely driven by disappointment over Brexit-and calls it a strategic blunder.
He stresses that Germany does not need to rely on France and Spain and can still contribute to the next generation of manned fighters. However, he notes that Britain’s GCAP programme and Sweden’s Saab offer stronger partnership opportunities.
Instead of pursuing a new manned jet, Enders urges Germany to invest its financial power in unmanned aerial vehicle development. He, a board member of the German drone manufacturer Helsing, argues that the future of air warfare lies not in increasingly complex, manned high‑end platforms with twenty‑year development cycles, but in highly intelligent autonomous drone systems where software, artificial intelligence, and cost‑effective mass production matter more than cockpit design or aerodynamic perfection. In this domain, Germany could take a leading role in Europe. According to Enders, manned “fighter squadrons” will become a marginal role in the next twenty years.