New UK-Japan-Italy fighter takes shape, with electronics details emerging

Last week’s DSEI Japan show served as a showcase for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), with government and industry representatives from Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom gathering to announce new technology partnerships for the sixth-generation fighter.

GCAP took center stage at the exhibition in Tokyo with a scale model of the technology demonstrator flanked by industrial partners promoting advanced electronics, weapon systems, and propulsion solutions, Breaking Defense reports.

The program was enough of a draw for the defense ministers from the UK and Italy to travel from Europe for the event.

Following a trilateral ministerial meeting with his Italian and Japanese counterparts at the exhibition, UK defense secretary Ben Wallace said “The GCAP is an enduring, strategic, partnership that will see the creation of a sixth-generation fighter, to protect our skies for decades to come and bring together an alliance of nations, bridging Europe and the Pacific.”

Maj. Gen. Masaki Oyama, Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency’s Director of Development Division GCAP, described the project as “symbolic of a system of a systems approach to a sixth-generation aircraft.”

He also highlighted the importance of “freedom of action” and “freedom of modification” for the partner nations which would enable them to deal with emerging threats and new technologies in 2035 and beyond.

The event saw prime contractors BAE Systems, MHI and Leonardo agree to “work closely together on the next steps” on the program, which is supposed to deliver a fighter by 2035 (what those “next steps” may remain unclear). Meanwhile, engine contractors Rolls-Royce, IHI and Avio Aero agreed to pool expertise on design, manufacture and testing for the fighter’s future engine. Meanwhile, MBDA UK was at the show promoting Meteor and Spear EW weapon systems — both of which are set to be carried by Royal Air Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. Once in service, it is expected these weapon systems will be made available for the GCAP, supported by multi-national partners in the consortium.

Relatively more concrete in terms of detail was a new collaborative agreement signed by Mitsubishi Electric, Leonardo UK, Leonardo and ELT to develop advanced on-board electronics for GCAP, referred to as the Integrated Sensing and Non Kinetic Effects (ISANKE) and Integrated Communications Systems (ICS).

According to a joint press release published on March 15, ISANKE will comprise a “fully integrated sensing, fusion and self-protection capability that draws on a spider’s web of sensing and effecting nodes across each platform.” ICS, the statement added, will enable ISANKE to operate as a “network across formations of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, as part of each nations’ wider, multi-domain system-of-systems.”

“GCAP will play a key role in gaining air superiority,” Oyama said, while referencing contemporary and future operating environments where vast amounts of information are shared across the battle space.

“For pilots, ISANKE/ICS will be ideal if the aircraft moves like part of [their] body. ISANKE and ICS can deliver integrated information of sensors situated across an aircraft ensuring freedom of maneuver while maintaining excellent situation awareness.”

According to Masahiko Arai, Senior General Manager, Defense Systems Division, Mitsubishi Electric, the collaborative agreement will create the appropriate commercial and international operating models required to successfully execute the next stage of GCAP. The company had already been involved in generating advanced electronics for Japan’s indigenous FX next-generation fighter program, which has been merged into the tri-national effort.