Dassault eyes lead role in European new fighter jet project: CEO

FRANKFURT: France's Dassault Aviation aims to take the lead on the development of a new European fighter jet, its chief executive told a German magazine.

"Experience has shown, if you want a defence project to be successful it needs someone to be responsible, a leader," German weekly WirtschaftsWoche quoted Eric Trappier as saying in an interview.

France and Germany are expected to announce details of a planned new warplane at the ILA Berlin Air Show, which starts on April 25.

The project involves Dassault, MBDA, Thales and Safran on the French side and Airbus on the German side.

"We can take the lead role," Dassault's Trappier told WirtschaftsWoche.

"The fact is: We are the only company in Europe that can built a complete fighter jet from A to Z and are the only ones who have 70 years of experience and skills," he said.

He said he did not expect resistance from Airbus if it was given a junior role in the project, according to the magazine.