The United Kingdom, Italy, as well as Japan signed the first contract for conducting sixth-generation fighter development under the GCAP program. However, it will only be sufficient to ensure work for three months.
Funding under this agreement amounts to only 686 million pounds, or 787 million euros. This turns out to be a temporary payment intended to ensure project functioning until the end of June 2026.
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The reason for such an interim solution is the United Kingdom, which currently cannot allocate sufficient funds for a full-fledged contract. Accordingly, they took a temporary option to avoid delays.
Overall, the agreement was signed between the three countries’ joint GCAP implementation office and Edgewing company, which will be responsible for development. The latter is a joint venture between Leonardo, BAE Systems, as well as Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd.
Concerns about potential development delays arose due to British delays in adopting a 10-year defense investment plan. The reason is a shortage of 28 billion pounds, or approximately 32 billion euros, at the country’s Ministry of Defence.
However, we see they found at least a temporary solution to the situation to somehow start development. This is better than competitors with FCAS, where disagreements between parties essentially brought the project to collapse.
Currently, GCAP remains the joint sixth-generation fighter project with the most progress. Therefore, Canada is preparing to join as an observer, while Poland is considering a similar step with possible deeper participation.
A minimum of 56 billion euros is needed to finance aircraft development by Italy, the United Kingdom, as well as Japan. These need to be allocated promptly, because the demonstrator’s first flight is already scheduled for 2028.
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