Mark Appleton / BAE Systems
New design for next-gen UK-Italy-Japan fighter unveiled
But it’s no longer clear that Britain wants to prioritize a sixth-generation jet, much like the U.S. Air Force.
FARNBOROUGH, UK—The three companies building a next-generation combat fighter for the U.K., Italy, and Japan have released a new concept for its design with a bigger, triangular wingspan.
On the first day of the Farnborough Air Show, UK’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries touted a new design on the show floor, with a “much more evolved design with a wingspan larger than previous concepts to improve the aerodynamics of the future combat aircraft,” BAE said in a statement.
The trilateral effort is called the Global Combat Air Programme, or GCAP. It would use technology developed for the UK’s Tempest program, which aims to fly its own prototype in 2027 and ultimately produce a jet to replace the Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon.
GCAP itself is part of the UK’s Future Combat Air System, a “family of systems” that aims to field drones as well as sixth-gen fighters.
But the unveiling comes amid uncertainty about the future of the multi-billion dollar program—and indeed, of Western sixth-gen combat jets in general. A U.K. official recently declined to commit to the program as the new government goes through its “strategic defence review” and mulls a shift in focus to preparing for a near-term war in Europe against Russia. On the American side of the Atlantic, U.S. Air Force officials have openly questioned the financial feasibility of its sixth-generation fighter jet, called NGAD.