The UK Ministry of Defense has awarded BAE Systems a GBP 656 million (EUR 742 million) contract extension to advance the conceptual development and technological implementation of the next-generation Tempest fighter jet, BAE announced on April 14.
“The new funding will build on the pioneering science, research and engineering work already done by UK Tempest partners BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, MBDA UK and Rolls-Royce during the first phase of the agreement,” said BAE Systems in a press release.
The original contract, worth around £250 million, was announced in July 2021 and officially marked the start of the concept and evaluation phase of what was then the UK's Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, not to be confused with the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS Program. However, the British-led FCAS program, in which Italy participated as a partner, was merged with Japan's FX program to develop a sixth-generation fighter aircraft in December 2022 to form the trilateral Global Combat Air Program (GCAP).
Under this latest contract, the UK Tempest partners will work closely with the UK Ministry of Defense to drive the maturity of more than 60 cutting-edge technology demonstrations, digital concepts and emerging technologies. These are critical to the UK's sovereign defense capability and will help set the final requirements for the fighter platform in collaboration with GCAP partners in Japan and Italy. The UK MoD still aims to see Tempest in service with the Royal Air Force by 2035.
Die GCAP/Tempest-Plattform ist als innovatives Überschall-Tarnkappen-Kampfflugzeug konzipiert, das mit Spitzentechnologien ausgestattet ist, darunter modernste Erkennungs- und Schutzfunktionen. „Damit wird das Flugzeug zu einem der modernsten, interoperabelsten, anpassungsfähigsten und am besten vernetzten Kampfflugzeuge der Welt und liefert kampferprobte Waffen der nächsten Generation zum Schutz Großbritanniens und seiner Verbündeten“, so BAE.
"The next tranche of funding for the future fighter jet will help bring together the combined technologies and expertise we have with our international partners - both in Europe and the Pacific - to deliver this world-leading fighter jet by 2035 and." to protect our skies for decades to come," British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is quoted as saying in the BAE press release.
Richard Berthon, Director of Future Combat Air at the UK MoD, was quoted as saying: “Today the UK MoD is releasing the next tranche of funding for the future air force as planned. This shows that the UK is committed to working with international partners to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft by 2035.”
“We face a growing threat from our adversaries, who are investing in fighter jets and air defense systems themselves. By investing in GCAP, we will stay ahead of these evolving and expanding threats and provide a highly credible deterrent capability for decades to come.”
Peter Felsted
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