Volkswacht Bodensee - France's Dassault says 'weeks' left to save Europe warplane project

He spoke after French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced determination to rescue the programme. Merz said last week that two mediators had been tasked with making a proposal by the end of April.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme is a flagship joint effort to build a next-generation combat aircraft between France, Germany and Spain.

But it has faltered as disagreements persist between Dassault and Airbus, which represents Germany and Spain.

On Wednesday, Eric Trappier said he was "not a man for co-management".

"We're giving ourselves a little more time -- two to three weeks –- to try to reach an agreement between the French and Germans, between Dassault and Airbus," he said at a forum in Paris.

"I am not in favour of an ambitious industrial project that will serve our armed forces being co-managed. We need a leader."

The FCAS programme was launched in 2017 to replace the Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain.

It is often seen as a bellwether of defence and security cooperation between France and Germany as the two EU powerhouses seek to put up a united front in the face of a hostile Russia and wavering US security commitment.

Trappier once again stressed that his company was capable of going it alone.

"We are going to build an aircraft to succeed the Rafale. It must be capable of carrying out missions and operating from an aircraft carrier," he said.

"We built the Rafale on our own. We know how to do it on our own, whereas the Eurofighter was built by four countries," he said, referring to Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.

E.Gasser--VB