{"text":[[{"start":10.9,"text":"Eight aerospace and defence companies led by Airbus are planning an alliance to develop a European alternative to the doomed next-generation Franco-German fighter jet."}],[{"start":20.4,"text":"Airbus Defence and Space, Autoflug, Diehl Defence, Hensoldt, Liebherr, MBDA, MTU Aero Engines and Rohde & Schwarz proposed the idea earlier this week in a letter to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office and defence minister Boris Pistorius, according to a copy seen by the FT. "}],[{"start":38.349999999999994,"text":"The German-led group will announce its alliance, called Team Gen 6, later this week at the ILA Berlin Air Show, according to people familiar with the matter. "}],[{"start":48.49999999999999,"text":"“It is a signal that, as German industry, we are prepared to stand ready to develop a sixth-generation fighter for Europe in Europe,” said one of the people."}],[{"start":58.94999999999999,"text":"The expected announcement comes just days after Merz told French President Emmanuel Macron that it would be better to end their two nations’ troubled fighter jet partnership on the €100bn Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, which had become bogged down in a bitter industrial dispute."}],[{"start":77.29999999999998,"text":"German participants in FCAS, including Airbus’s German-based defence unit, had grown increasingly frustrated by the failure of politicians in Berlin and Paris to either find a resolution to the disagreements or declare the project dead."}],[{"start":92.69999999999999,"text":"Following Merz’s decision, the companies will announce they are ready to pool their capabilities as a core team to ensure “war-readiness” in the air for future decades, according to a draft of the position paper. "}],[{"start":104.85,"text":"The aim of the alliance, said the people, was to show that German industry was ready to develop a sixth-generation fighter jet for Europe with European partners. One possibility would be to continue working with Spain, which is also a partner in the FCAS project, as well as pairing with Sweden. "}],[{"start":121.35,"text":"While details are still being negotiated, the chief executives of the eight businesses are scheduled to meet at the air show in Berlin midweek to sign and unveil the alliance, the people said."}],[{"start":131.79999999999998,"text":"Merz’s decision to pull the plug on the joint jet means that Germany must now search for an alternative to a plane that was supposed to form the backbone of its air force from the 2040s onwards. "}],[{"start":142.7,"text":"The FT reported on Monday that Germany had informed France it would end the joint development of a fighter jet, dealing a potentially fatal blow to Europe’s largest defence programme at a time when the continent is seeking to re-arm against the Russian threat."}],[{"start":156.5,"text":"Airbus, Hensoldt, Rohde & Schwarz and the German chancellery declined to comment. Autoflug, Diehl, Liebherr, MBDA, MTU and the German defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment."}],[{"start":176.54999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780997851_7681.mp3"}