France looking at joining Swedish 6th gen fighter

[MontyB]

Programme.

France Enters Race Against Germany for Sweden's Sixth-Gen Fighter Partnership, Offering Safran Engines to Replace American Dependence, With Direct Impact on Ukraine's Future Fleet | Defense Express

Élysée official says Paris wants lighter aircraft like Stockholm as Saab's sovereign F-series project must be abandoned before any partnership can begin

en.defence-ua.com

I like the idea of less US reliance but I struggle to understand why Europe has so many 6th Gen programs, you would think working together to produce a single fighter would be the smarter option.

 

[I3BrigPvSk]

Programme.

France Enters Race Against Germany for Sweden's Sixth-Gen Fighter Partnership, Offering Safran Engines to Replace American Dependence, With Direct Impact on Ukraine's Future Fleet | Defense Express

Élysée official says Paris wants lighter aircraft like Stockholm as Saab's sovereign F-series project must be abandoned before any partnership can begin

en.defence-ua.com

I like the idea of less US reliance but I struggle to understand why Europe has so many 6th Gen programs, you would think working together to produce a single fighter would be the smarter option.

I think the major reason is, the European countries try to "protect" their own defense industries instead of getting together to produce reliable defense systems. This is not only an issue for the 6th generation fighter plane, it is an issue for land based systems too.

I would like to see the European and Canada getting rid off the US systems and even replace the US forces with European (and Canadian) forces.

 

[MontyB]

I think the major reason is, the European countries try to "protect" their own defense industries instead of getting together to produce reliable defense systems. This is not only an issue for the 6th generation fighter plane, it is an issue for land based systems too.

I would like to see the European and Canada getting rid off the US systems and even replace the US forces with European (and Canadian) forces.

I understand that and agree entirely but you can still do both, I do not see a reason why a weapons system cannot be made in multiple countries by different companies to a single specification.
For example an air superiority fighter such as the Eurofighter, why can't the same fighter be made in its entirety in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, surely the war in Ukraine has shown that the wests weakness is supply, another example would be the Patriot missile the fact that most of the world is sitting around waiting for missiles to come out of a factory in the US at a rate of one a day should be the driver for redundancy in manufacturing.

Essentially, I think Europe should be looking at licensing systems along the likes of the South Korean process.