As TFA points out, there's a competing French-German-Spanish 6th gen fighter project, FCAS. FCAS is apparently already in some kind of trouble due to conflictin

As TFA points out, there's a competing French-German-Spanish 6th gen fighter project, FCAS. FCAS is apparently already in some kind of trouble due to conflicting requirements. The French want a follow-up to the Rafale, that is a carrier-capable, multi-role plane with long-range strike capability, crucially including nuclear strike. The Germans want none of that, they want primarily an air defense fighter. For more details, see https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/fcas-franco-german-spanish-combat-air-programme-really-trouble https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentar...