Air Warfare, Worldwide
Photo taken on 21 July 2024 of the new GCAP concept design on display at the Farnborough International Airshow. (BAE Systems)
Updated 7/22/2024 at 08:53 am ET to include additional comments from GCAP industry partners.
FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW – Industry partners involved in the British, Italian and Japanese Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) have unveiled a new concept for a future fighter jet based on a standard delta wing design , which gives more wings compared to previous times.
The UK’s BAE Systems said the concept, developed in collaboration with Italy’s Leonardo and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, “features a highly advanced design,” characterized by a wing-shaped, aerodynamic design. updated.
The three industrial partners have signed a collaboration agreement covering the design and development of future fighter jets, supported by a variety of “new digital tools and techniques, including computer modeling and true reality,” added BAE in a statement on Sunday.
The industry’s apparent progress in advancing the plane’s design contrasts with the political uncertainty that has hung over the trilateral effort in recent days, after a UK lawmaker from the new Labor government rejected making a long-term commitment to GCAP, on the grounds that taking positions could “judge” or interfere with the recently commissioned Strategic Defense Review (SDR). London said it will reveal the results of the review, which will take into account the priorities of the policies and the needs of British resources in the “first half of 2025.”
Herman Claesen, managing director of Future Combat Air Systems at BAE Systems told reporters today that the company must “respect the fact that the government has called for SDR and wants to look at the priorities and everything that goes with it .”
Claesen said he had spoken directly with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who “said” at the opening of the Farnborough Air Show, that GCAP was “very important” for London.
“I think the fact that you [Starmer] he’s out here, he wants to see the plane, he wants to talk to people about it, he’s giving another indication that it’s a very important policy agenda for the UK,” added Claesan. “We look forward to supporting the government in their efforts.”
He suggested that the financial investment from the UK MoD to support the multi-million effort is on a solid basis, explaining, “I have all the funds today that are needed to support the program in the same way as the staff-‘ me too. [from Leonardo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries] explained them. ”
The GCAP fighter is planned to replace the British and Italian Eurofighter Typhoons as well as the Japanese F-2s, with an entry into service date of 2035. It is also expected to operate in conjunction with an autonomous cooperation platform or aircraft joint, similar to the US Air Force Collaborative Combat. Airplane. Industry partners also aim to fly a functional, high-altitude and low-visibility spacecraft within four years.
Soon, they are scheduled to launch the development phase of the future fighter jet next year, and political representatives of the partner countries are also due to meet this week. Both political and industry officials have said that the future of the aircraft is still the most important thing. Saudi Arabia has also shown a strong interest in becoming the country’s fourth partner, but nothing concrete has emerged since the UK indicated in September that there is no “clear time” in play to welcome Riyadh.
“We are developing an industry that is open to others [international manufacturing] partners, “Guglielmo Maviglia, managing director of the GCAP program at Leonardo, told reporters today. “Partners are important because of course, the foreign market is important for business.”
A senior RAF spokesman told reporters earlier this week that they had no intention of commenting on an investigation into the air war between Saudi Arabia and the UK. , which Richard Berthon, UK director for the future of war, at the British Ministry of Defence, told Breaking Defense in September 2023 was necessary so that there could be a “growth of understanding” between London and Riyadh. At that time, the study was expected to conclude at the beginning of the first quarter of this year.
All of GCAP’s industry partners are “moving forward” with design work for the next-generation fighter, Claesen said, adding that the next engineering step is a system requirements analysis, which directly supports the plan to the initiation of the development phase.
Industry groups across the UK, Italy and Japan have all been given “one demand” and are working on it, Claesen noted.
He also shared that the GCAP industrial plan was not influenced by the US Air Force’s recent decision to review the road ahead for its sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. .
“I have all the funds today that are needed to support the program,” said Claesen, referring to the Italians and Japanese.
Sunday’s joint statement comes months after what appeared to be a rift between the industry partners spilled into the public eye. In March Roberto Cingolani, the CEO of Leonardo, said that the UK has not yet shared plans related to its aircraft management system and the technology of the system type, including whether the GCAP fighter jets will end up they are linked and connected to adjunct aircraft and artificial intelligence (AI). ) network with cloud computing capabilities to support multi-domain operations.
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