The partners behind a new industrial joint venture (JV) tasked with delivering a sixth-generation fighter via the three-nation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) have agreed the terms of their collaboration, with the effort still on track to meet its targeted in-service date of 2035.
Announcing the development on 13 December, the industrial representatives of the UK, Italy and Japan – BAE Systems, Leonardo, and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Company (JAIEC) – confirm that the terms of the agreement will see each hold a 33.3% stake in the JV.
To be established and named by mid-2025, following the receipt of regulatory approvals, the organisation’s first chief executive will be drawn from Leonardo in Italy, with the position to rotate between the three partners. “It will undertake the design and development of the GCAP aircraft and will subcontract the manufacturing and final assembly to BAE Systems, Leonardo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the wider supply chain,” the companies state.
“The new joint venture will be accountable for the design, development and delivery of the next generation combat aircraft and will remain the design authority for GCAP for the life of the product, which is expected to go out beyond 2070.”
The GCAP venture was formally launched in December 2022, with the defence ministries of Italy, Japan and the UK already having agreed to form the overarching GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO), which was established last week. Both this and the new industrial JV will be collocated and headquartered in the UK, with “national companies” located at industry sites in Turin, Nagoya and Warton.
“Both entities will work together to support cost-effective and timely programme delivery, including a 2035 aircraft in-service date,” the companies say.
“This JV will feel significantly different to previous ones we’ve had in combat air, with regard to Eurofighter and Panavia,” says Herman Claesen, BAE’s managing director FCAS (Future Combat Air System). “It will have design authority, and be properly empowered to own the programme.
“We want to be more programme- and capability-focused… to create a successful programme, to be successful on the export market, and to give an agile combat capability to our air forces in recognition of the threats they will be facing,” he adds.
Claesen notes that the roughly 18-month process of “intense conversations and discussions” leading to the JV’s framework agreement took around half the time needed to create the four-nation Eurofighter industrial consortium between Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
“One of the more challenging parts of this discussion was determining where the work gets done inside the joint venture,” he says. “We have been able to come up with a solution that matches up the strengths in each of the countries very well, in recognition of the requirements of the programme.”
A decision has yet to be reached on how many development aircraft will be required, with some activities to be transferred to the use of digital modelling, but Claesen expects there to be “a reasonable-sized [test] fleet”, split between the partner nations.
“The new business will bring together the significant strengths and expertise of the companies involved to create an innovative organisation that will lead the way in developing a next generation combat air system, creating long-term, high value and skilled jobs across the partner nations for decades to come,” says BAE chief executive Charles Woodburn.
“This partnership not only enhances our technological capabilities but also reinforces our commitment to global security and innovation,” notes Leonardo chief executive Roberto Cingolani. “We are paving the way for the development of a new era in aircraft systems and multi-domain scenarios,” he adds.
JAIEC president Kimito Nakae, meanwhile, notes: “I acknowledge that the way might not always be simple and straightforward. However, I believe that through continuing the strong spirit of trilateral cooperation and collaboration that we have fostered up to this point, we will not only deliver the GCAP on time but also at a level that exceeds all of our expectations.”
The GCAP programme will now advance towards the expected signature before the end of 2025 of a full design and development contract by the GIGO on behalf of the three partner nations. This will follow the industrial JV’s formal establishment and the completion of a system requirements review.
A future programme phase will include determining the exact manufacturing workshare to be set between the national companies, driven by factors such as the number of production aircraft required by each customer.
The GCAP partners also expect to attract additional participants, on the condition of unanimous approval by their governments.
“There are an awful lot of other nations interested in this programme, and that is growing with time,” says Claesen, who describes it as “the only credible sixth-generation [fighter] programme out there, outside Russia, China and the US”.
And while the UK government is currently conducting a Strategic Defence Review activity, Claesen says it has so far demonstrated strong support for GCAP.
“It is not just about the military capability – it is also about generating wealth for the nation, the contribution to GDP [gross domestic product] and the amount of jobs we generate through this… [and] defence exports. When you add all of that together it is an incredibly powerful business case – why wouldn’t you sign up to that?”
