Germany and France announced they would start working on a new fighter aircraft. The statement came after a joint ministerial cabinet meeting of the French and German governments on July 13th.

France's new President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a joint announcement at a news conference. According to the joint plans of the two countries, the new aircraft will be designed to replace French Rafale and the European Consortium's Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. Both aircraft are scheduled to retire between 2030 and 2040. Now going through a period to leave the European Union on Brexit's decision, the UK's position on the subject, who has role on Turkey's National Combat Aircraft F-X program, is a matter of curiosity as the country has an important role in Typhoon aircraft. It is known that the new plane will compete with fifth-generation planes for the time being, but there is no clear plan for which gen the aircraft will be.