Christened “Team Gen 6” (pour avion de 6e generation), this alliance has transmitted this document to the German Ministry of Defense and will formalize its “position” on Thursday, at the ILA air show in Berlin, said a spokesperson for the German defense company Hensoldt.
Team Gen 6 presents itself as an alternative, driven by Germany, to the Franco-German-Spanish Scaf project, buried Monday by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron after months of tensions between the two main manufacturers, Airbus and Dassault Aviation.
An expanded industrial coalition
In addition to Hensoldt, Team Gen 6 brings together two European firms, the missile manufacturer MBDA and the defense and space branch of Airbus, as well as five German companies: the defense group Diehl, the engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines, the aeronautical equipment manufacturers Liebherr and Autoflug, as well as the electronic technology specialist Rohde & Schwarz, detailed the spokesperson. He thus confirmed information from the “Financial Times” which also affirmed that Chancellor Friedrich Merz was the recipient of this document. When contacted, all other potentially participating companies refused to comment or were not immediately reachable.
Germany is looking for new partners to build a new generation fighter plane »
“Germany is looking for new partners to build a new generation fighter jet,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told journalists on Tuesday. “We have already been in talks with various stakeholders on this for months, as you can imagine,” he added.
