The development of a new, advanced sixth-generation jet partly pushed by two NATO states is progressing at an "excellent pace," as the U.S. debates the future of its own next-generation fighter jet program.
The Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), led by U.K.-based BAE Systems, Italian defense manufacturer Leonardo and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is slated to produce a sixth-generation fighter jet to be in service by the mid-2030s. The jet will be known as Tempest by the British military.
The GCAP is working to an "incredibly demanding timeline," Herman Claesen, the managing director of Future Combat Air Systems at BAE Systems, told the media on the first day of the U.K's Farnborough International Airshow on Monday. Development is moving along at a "phenomenal pace," he added.
Britain, Italy and Japan jointly launched the GCAP program at the end of 2022. Current cutting-edge fast jets are fifth-generation, like the stealth F-35 jet used by many NATO nations and Russia's Su-57 stealth aircraft.
The sixth-generation aircraft is expected to operate alongside jets like the Royal Air Force's Typhoon fourth-generation aircraft and its fleet of F-35s.
The U.K's new Labour government has just launched what is has termed a Strategic Defence Review, which will examine the country's defense as it stands. It is not yet clear which branches of British military and defense policy will be impacted.
However, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said during a visit to Farnborough on Monday that the GCAP was an "important" program that was making "significant progress."
U.S. officials have indicated in recent weeks that the future of the U.S. initiative to develop a sixth-generation fighter, known as Next Generation Air Dominance or NGAD, is unclear.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told Defense News in late June that the "family of systems concept" known as NGAD is "alive and well," but added: "We're looking at whether we can do something that's less expensive and do some trade-offs there."
Kendall said NGAD would likely cost around three times as much as an F-35 Lightning II. Each F-35 comes with a price tag of around $100 million.
In mid-June, Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Allvin, said that "deliberations are still underway" and that no decision had been made on the future of sixth-generation aircraft development.
NGAD would likely have a roughly similar timetable to GCAP, and would replace the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
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