Sweden emerges as a pivotal player in Europe’s next fighter race

Europe’s most ambitious combat aircraft programme, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), appears to be nearing the end of its current structure, while Airbus is moving to shape a possible successor.

According to the Financial Times, Airbus is leading a German-backed initiative known as Team Gen 6, which aims to develop a new European sixth-generation combat aircraft.

For Saab and the wider Swedish defence industry, the development could prove strategically important.

Sweden has been identified as a potential partner at a time when Stockholm is weighing how to develop its next-generation air combat capability. Options under consideration include a nationally developed system, participation in an international programme, or the acquisition of a foreign platform.

Saab began developing concepts for a next-generation combat aircraft on behalf of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) in 2024. The work was expanded in 2025 when the company received a further FMV contract worth approximately SEK 2.6 billion to continue studies through 2027.

Any fragmentation or restructuring of FCAS could create new opportunities for Sweden and its aerospace sector.

In late May 2026, Airbus Defence and Space chief executive Michael Schöllhorn confirmed that the company was in discussions with Sweden and Germany regarding a potential collaboration involving Saab.

The scope of any cooperation could extend beyond a crewed combat aircraft. Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) have emerged as a potential area of partnership and are widely viewed as a core element of future air combat architectures.

CCAs are uncrewed aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed platforms. Often described as "loyal wingmen", they can support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, electronic warfare, target acquisition and weapons employment.

They may also be used as decoys or deployed in high-risk missions to reduce threats to crewed aircraft.

A system of systems

These developments underline how future combat air capability is no longer defined by a single aircraft. Instead, emerging concepts are increasingly described as a system of systems.

Fifth-generation fighters such as the F-35 and F-22 are characterised by low observability, advanced sensors and a high degree of systems integration.

The Gripen E is generally classified as a 4.5-generation fighter. While highly modern and designed for continuous upgrades, it does not incorporate the full-spectrum stealth characteristics typically associated with fifth-generation platforms.

Sixth-generation combat aircraft are expected to extend this evolution. Although stealth will remain important, the most significant advances are likely to come from software, sensors, artificial intelligence, secure data links and the ability to control uncrewed systems.

Future combat aircraft are expected to act as airborne command nodes, enabling pilots to coordinate CCAs, drone swarms, weapons systems and distributed sensor networks across large operational areas with increasing support from artificial intelligence.

As a result, the competition to develop next-generation combat aircraft is increasingly becoming a contest between industrial ecosystems rather than individual platforms.

Companies that secure a central role in these programmes will not only contribute to aircraft development but could also influence future standards, technology architectures and defence supply chains across Europe.

This article is a shortened version of a detailed analysis of global combat aircraft programmes originally published by our Swedish sister publication, Metal Supply.