Australia confirms ‘informational’ meeting with GCAP fighter partners

Australia’s next combat aircraft might not come from the country’s long-time ally and defence supplier the USA.

Speaking at the 2025 Avalon air show near Melbourne, the head of capability for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) confirmed his office recently received what he describes as an “informational briefing” from the multi-national Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) – a trilateral partnership between the UK, Italy and Japan.

“It was an information briefing and we have asked for some more information,” said Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan on 27 March.

The transport pilot says the RAAF, which just completed its fleet of 72 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters last December, is for now only seeking an understanding of “how we might have to operate with that aircraft”, referencing the manned sixth-generation craft being developed via GCAP.

That still-conceptual fighter is known as the Tempest within the UK. Italian manufacturer Leonardo recently suggested the joint venture expects to see orders for 350 GCAP aircraft by 2035.

Hogan confirms all three GCAP members participated in the briefing to the RAAF, which took place the same week as the Avalon show.

As to whether Canberra might someday adopt the nascent GCAP platform, Hogan says it is still far too early to speculate.

“It’s exciting,” he notes. “But I think there’s a lot of unknowns yet, and there would be so many unknowns that it wouldn’t be possible to take any options to the government at this stage.

“But on paper, it’s a nice looking aircraft,” he adds.

Any decision on a new crewed platform is likely years away. And while Australia is working to develop and field new uncrewed platforms like the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the RAAF’s operational air commander says the service is currently “well postured” to meet Canberra’s strategic needs when it comes to manned combat aircraft.

“There’s many ways that we could… respond to a presence of another nation in our region,” says Air Vice-Marshal Glen Braz. “So I’m comfortable we’re well-placed to deal with that should it come about.”

GCAP currently aims to start delivering operational capability by 2035.

Australia’s closest defence partner, the USA, is also preparing its own sixth-generation offerings, now with a significant lead over European competitors.

The US Air Force (USAF) on 21 March formally announced Boeing as the winner of its secretive Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) competition. The American airframer is believed to have beaten out rival Lockheed to produce an air dominance platform now dubbed the F-47.

The USAF says two NGAD prototypes have been flying secretly for the past five years, while similar alternatives from Europe still exist mostly on paper.

Meanwhile, the US Navy is expected to soon announce the winner of its own F/A-XX sixth-generation fighter contest, with Boeing and Northrop Grumman believed to be the finalists.

In announcing the selection of Boeing as the F-47 manufacturer, US President Donald Trump left open the possibility of exporting the new design – something that was never approved for the USAF’s current Lockheed F-22 air superiority fighter.

“Our allies are calling constantly, and they want to buy them also,” Trump said of the new F-47.

Without offering specifics, the president suggested a “toned-down” version of the jet could be sold to a select group of nations.

A rival group of European aerospace powers from France, Germany and Spain are developing their own advanced combat aircraft under an initiative called the Future Combat Air System.

The chief executive of Dassault Aviation, which represents France in the collaborative, recently threw cold water on any prospect of merging the two European fighter development efforts.

Both programmes are currently working to produce demonstrator aircraft.