Spain’s defence industry has issued an urgent appeal to the government to seek alternatives and protect critical capabilities after the Franco-German core of Europe’s next-generation fighter programme unilaterally abandoned the project. In a rare joint statement, six leading companies — Indra, Airbus, ITP Aero, Sener, Oesía and GMV — warned that ‘we can no longer afford to lose time’ and called on Madrid to immediately enter new negotiations to redefine what remains of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) or pursue a comparable initiative. The declaration follows a bilateral meeting in Montenegro between German opposition leader Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, at which the two are reported to have decided to bury the trinational effort without informing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, despite Spain’s status as a full partner and the presence of key FCAS facilities on Spanish soil.

Viewed from Madrid, the exclusion is a stark illustration of the perils of defence collaboration with the Franco-German axis, long accused of treating smaller European partners as afterthoughts. The FCAS programme, intended to field a sixth-generation combat aircraft by 2040 to replace Eurofighters and Rafales, was already fragile, repeatedly shaken by disputes over workshare, design authority and funding. Yet the apparent fait accompli delivered in Montenegro has transformed latent frustration into an acute industrial crisis, with Indra activating a contingency plan to shield more than 1,000 high-skilled jobs as uncertainty engulfs the programme.

Analysts in London note that the collapse mirrors deeper centrifugal forces in European defence integration, where national industrial interests regularly trump collective ambition. Spanish firms, having invested heavily in advanced systems integration and sensor technologies, now risk losing not only near-term revenue but also the technological sovereignty necessary to remain competitive. Berlin and Paris seem determined to refashion FCAS into a purely bilateral project led by Dassault and Airbus Defence and Space, a move that, if confirmed, would relegate Spain to a subordinate role or lock it out entirely, repeating a pattern seen in earlier programmes like the Eurofighter.

The Spanish government now faces a narrowing window for damage control. Options include pushing for a restructured FCAS with meaningful Spanish involvement, exploring adhesion to the British-led Tempest programme, or deepening transatlantic ties with American primes — each carrying geopolitical and industrial trade-offs. For now, industry leaders are making clear that dithering is not an option. Sánchez’s cabinet must rapidly demonstrate that it can still wield influence in European defence circles, or risk presiding over the hollowing-out of a sector it has long championed as a pillar of national strategy.