- Defense News
London – Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom have signed an international agreement to start an advanced fighter jet development program, defense ministers announced on Thursday.
The agreement, covered by Reuters this month, comes a year after the three countries began their first major defense industry collaboration by uniting efforts to develop future fighter jets run by London and Tokyo.
Each country's parliament must ratify the agreement, which aims to have the fighter flying by 2035. The joint development phase of the program will begin in 2025.
The headquarters of the joint Global Air Combat Program (GCAP) and its complementary industries will be in the United Kingdom.
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Meanwhile, the managing director of the government organization will be from Japan and the first director of the business organization will be from Italy, according to the announcement.
"No country can do this alone for the level of expertise combined with our skills and equipment, with design and production capabilities," said UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps.
"As we face the most complex security environment since World War II, securing air superiority continues to be an important challenge we must achieve," the Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara stated.
Minister Kihara was accompanied by Shapps and Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto when he made the statement in Tokyo.
The Japanese defense minister didn’t say who would lead the company, but said he would ensure "the best person for the job" would be selected.
The stealth supersonic jet will have a radar that provides 10,000 times more data than current systems, the British government said.
Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo, European missile maker MBDA and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce are involved in the project.
Reuters has reported that Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, aviation manufacturing company Mitsubishi Electric Corp, and engine manufacturers IHI Corp and Avio Aero are also involved.
