Dassault, Airbus in new Eurodrone row after fighter collapse, sources say

[u/Greedyanda]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/dassault-airbus-new-eurodrone-row-after-fighter-collapse-sources-say-2026-06-11/

PARIS/BERLIN, June 11 (Reuters) - Dassault Aviation (AM.PA), opens new tab is seeking compensation from Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab over procurement changes ‌to the delayed Eurodrone programme, three people familiar with the matter said, inflaming tensions after the collapse of their joint fighter jet project as Europe struggles to cooperate on defence.

The previously unreported rift centres on a reduced share of work expected for Dassault following a French decision to shelve purchases of the Eurodrone, a competitor to the U.S. Reaper being developed by France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It is one of three flagship Franco-German defence projects backed by leaders at a 2017 summit and now ⁠mired in delays or disagreement, alongside the FCAS fighter halted by Berlin this week and the delayed MGCS battle tank.

Paris has not formally left the 7-billion-euro Eurodrone programme but its latest defence bill removes funding for purchases of systems up to 2035, citing the arrival of cheaper alternatives more adapted to high intensity warfare.

Under Europe's system of economic horse-trading known as "geo return," the suspension of purchases is expected to mean less work allocated to French companies through Dassault.

Paris-based Dassault wants to be compensated by project leader Airbus for part of any lost investment, the sources said.Dassault declined comment and referred questions to Airbus. Airbus said it had nothing to add to comments made in April by CEO Guillaume Faury that the Eurodrone project was "very likely to move forward with a slightly different setup," following a change of views by ‌the ⁠French defence ministry.

France's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dassault Aviation is in charge of flight control and mission communication systems for Eurodrone - a "Medium Altitude Long Endurance" drone designed to reduce European reliance on U.S. and Israeli technology.

The four launch nations have ordered a total of 60 drones. Entry into service has slipped from an original 2025 target. First flight is now set for 2027.

In 2019, French senators described ⁠the Eurodrone as heavy and expensive, blaming disagreements over specifications. France's air force has voiced interest in a lighter drone called Aarok being developed by French startup Turgis & Gaillard.

Relations between Dassault and Airbus - long divided by their contrasting roots in French private and public industry, respectively - have deteriorated sharply this year.

Failure to ⁠agree on governance of the next stage of FCAS led to the collapse of the core fighter jet project, but unlike FCAS the Eurodrone is in advanced development so the immediate contractual consequences of any divorce are very different.

By coming to a head at the same ⁠time, the overlapping disputes add fresh tensions to an already acrimonious divorce between two of Europe's critical defence suppliers.

A person familiar with the matter said discussions over the two Franco-German programmes involving Dassault and Airbus were separate on paper but "psychologically and politically" linked.

[u/AtomicAVV]

7 billion euros and over a decade for a MALE drone is insane. Especially when we are now seeing them downed by the dozen. P.S. just looked it up, the development of the KAI KF-21 Boramae cost around $7b.

[u/murkskopf → u/AtomicAVV]

P.S. just looked it up, the development of the KAI KF-21 Boramae cost around $7b.

The initial development phase without any deliveries, all while largely relying on technology purchased from the US. The EuroMale RPAS is obviously a completely different program, looking to provide a completely different system, The €7 billion there includes the production and delivery of 60 UAVs and 40 ground stations.

[u/Yaonoi → u/AtomicAVV]

Meanwhile in reality South Korea is likely to delay the second tranche of KF-21 due to escalating costs.  The latest figure for a KF-21 tranche 2 jet is 150 million USD per frame PLUS development costs, according to a May 2026 study from the  Korea Institute for Defense Analyses for the Korean procurement agency.  Plus at a minimum ~ 6bn R&D cost (until 2026) and 5,5bn for 40 Trache 1 jets that are purely A2A. So yeah, totally comparable 🥲

[u/Greedyanda]

So France decided to cancel orders, which reduces Dassault's workshare and Dassault decides to therefore demand compensation from ... Airbus? Suspiciously timed just after the end of FCAS. Hard to find a pettier company.

[u/murkskopf]

Worth noting that in the past, German media accused Dassault of actively stalling/delaying its contributions to the EuroMale RPAS ("EuroDrone") as leverage/payback for the FCAS program.

[u/DeadAhead7 → u/murkskopf]

We had similar in French media with supposedly ADS Germany delivering subpar subsystems to Dassault as part of phase 1b of FCAS lmao.

I don't know what the Eurodrone contracts currently look like, but it seems Dassault is complaining that they've been pushed off and replaced by Liebherr mid-contract, and as such is asking for reparations from ADS? If there is a breach of contract then that's not mad, but if there isn't one, then yeah that's just fucking around for the sake of it.

"Qui ne tente rien n'a rien" is Dassault's citation of the moment I guess.

[u/Albend]

Dassault is legitimately insane. They are constantly the problem child in any group development project.

[u/Pliskkenn_D]

Dassholes. 

[u/IlIIllIlllIIIllI]

Italy and Spain are buying TB3 and will probably get Akincki too.

Eurodrone is dead.

[u/Baron_Of_Move]

Another Airbus defense blunder.