Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes The future of European air defence
Nov 21, 2025
Ulrike Franke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and an expert on defence and drones, delves into the tumultuous Future Combat Air System (FCAS). The discussion reveals critical tensions between Dassault and Airbus, highlighting the challenges of Franco-German cooperation in military projects. They explore the implications of a potential collapse of FCAS for Europe's strategic autonomy and the overall health of the continent's defence industry. Urgent questions arise about Europe's need for a unified combat system amidst diverging national interests.
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Three-Part Architecture Of FCAS
- FCAS comprises three pillars: a crewed sixth-generation fighter, a combat cloud linking platforms, and high-speed drone swarms.
- Reported talks to drop the fighter and keep the cloud and drones would reshape Europe's path to sovereign air capabilities.
Strategic Stakes And Sovereignty
- FCAS is a €100 billion project intended to secure European know-how in advanced air systems.
- Relying on foreign purchases risks dependence and loss of sovereign technological capability, argues Ulrike Franke.
Combat Cloud As Digital Backbone
- The combat cloud functions as the digital backbone linking fighters, drones, ships and subs into a system-of-systems.
- Building that backbone independently could allow plugging different aircraft later, per the discussion.
