The joint venture leading the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), Edgewing, has secured a £4.6 billion ($6.1 billion) contract to advance the development of the sixth-generation fighter aircraft, marking a major milestone for one of the world’s most ambitious next-generation combat aviation programmes.The contract, awarded by the GCAP Agency, which manages the programme on behalf of the governments of the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy, will fund the fighter’s detailed design and development. The aircraft is expected to enter service by 2035.Edgewing is a joint venture formed by Britain’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Company (JAIEC), bringing together the three countries’ leading aerospace firms to develop the next-generation combat aircraft.This is the second international contract awarded to Edgewing by the GCAP Agency, following an initial £686 million agreement signed in April 2026.The latest award comes weeks after the United Kingdom unveiled its Defence Investment Plan, committing billions of pounds to the GCAP programme over the next four years.“This contract represents the trust placed in us by all three nations and our GCAP Agency partners, trust fostered by the rapid progress made under the first international contract,” said Marco Zoff, Edgewing CEO.The funding is expected to accelerate development, provide long-term financial certainty to the programme and strengthen the defence industrial base of the partner nations as competition in advanced military aviation intensifies.The agreement also marks the programme’s transition from the concept phase to detailed engineering and design, keeping it on track for induction into service in 2035.“The programme is vital for global security and defeating future threats, while sharing costs, technological advantages and creating highly skilled jobs in all three nations. With this long-term funding, the future of GCAP has never been more assured”, said Masami Oka, GCAP Agency chief executive.GCAP is a joint sixth-generation fighter programme involving the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy. It combines Britain’s Tempest programme and Japan’s F-X fighter initiative to develop a common next-generation combat aircraft that will replace the Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon and Japan’s Mitsubishi F-2.Unlike fifth-generation fighters such as the F-35 and China’s J-20, sixth-generation aircraft are being designed to operate as the centrepiece of a networked combat system.The GCAP fighter is expected to feature advanced stealth, artificial intelligence-assisted mission management, sensor fusion, long-range operations, secure high-speed data sharing and the ability to operate alongside autonomous “loyal wingman” drones.It will also feature an open-architecture design, allowing new weapons, sensors and software to be integrated more rapidly throughout its service life.The £4.6 billion contract is one of the biggest development milestones for GCAP so far and underscores the commitment of the three partner nations to field a sixth-generation fighter by 2035 as countries race to develop the next generation of combat aircraft.
