{"id":4657,"date":"2026-07-24T17:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/4657\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T17:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:50:12","slug":"what-we-learned-about-gcap-at-the-farnborough-airshow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/4657\/","title":{"rendered":"What we learned about GCAP at the Farnborough Airshow"},"content":{"rendered":"

FARNBOROUGH \u2014 Throughout the week, the trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)<\/a> dominated chatter in the show halls, aircraft display areas and high-level briefings.<\/p>\n

Since the death<\/a> of the rival European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project last month, GCAP is the only international sixth-gen fighter game in town \u2014 not including America\u2019s unilateral F-47 project<\/a> \u2014 meaning interest is sky high.<\/p>\n

From potential new entrants to a \u201cbridge\u201d aircraft in the works, here\u2019s what you need to know about GCAP, from the Breaking Defense team on the ground at the Farnborough International Airshow.<\/p>\n

Canada Comes Into The Fold, But Anyone Else?<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the biggest GCAP news came with the long-awaited announcement that project partners the UK, Italy and Japan would expand to include Canada, though only as an \u201cobserver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Observer status does not involve any financial commitments on the part of Ottawa but allows it to hold a working understanding of the effort and could lead to discussions around joining as a full-fledged partner, which would include an industrial contribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the start of this program, the partner countries \u2026 have highlighted [an] openness to that kind of possibility, based on certain considerations, what is best for the program and of mutual benefit,\u201d said Masami Oka, chief executive at the GCAP Agency, the organization overseeing the program on behalf of the three governments, on the eve of the Canadian announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following the virtual collapse of the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS program due to deep disagreements between industry leads Airbus and Dassault, there\u2019s been speculation that those nations \u2013 or at least some of their industrial players \u2013 could switch to GCAP. (FCAS still lives on in pursuit of next-gen aerial tech, if not the centerpiece fighter jet.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

As far as national bodies, Leonardo CEO Lorenzo Mariani said he could easily see the benefit of, say, Germany joining, but he warned any major change would likely cause \u201cdisruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin would make a \u201cstrong industrial partner,\u201d he said, but \u201canother nation joining, another group of industries joining the program would risk [producing] some delays, while at the moment, on the contrary, we are fully committed to the 2035 [service entry] date.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Mariani\u2019s estimation, France will not join GCAP, for the \u201csame reasons\u201d that led to the \u201crupture with Germany\u201d on the defunct FCAS effort, meaning disputes over IP rights, workshare arrangements and design requirements.<\/p>\n

German officials said after the collapse of FCAS they\u2019re considering a range of options<\/a>, including potentially playing a part in GCAP.<\/p>\n

On the industrial side, a senior Airbus official said the defense behemoth is feeling out its own potential GCAP role, though there could be a high bar for joining.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo your question was: Is Airbus ready to join GCAP? And my answer would be: it depends,\u201d Michael Schoellhorn, Airbus Defence and Space CEO, told reporters in London on Tuesday, during a company briefing. \u201cWhat we\u2019re ready to do is to join something or to build something where we have a significant portion of the work and the leadership, and that\u2019s currently being explored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Program Costs Still (Mostly) Under Wraps<\/p>\n

During a GCAP panel discussion on Monday, executives shared that it is \u201cpremature\u201d to talk about full program costs of the multinational effort, because partners are at a concept phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have a detailed, exact figure probably at the end of the conceptual assessment phase, but we have [a] clear projection,\u201d said Marco Zoff, CEO of Edgewing, the industrial consortium leading the project made up of BAE Systems, Italy\u2019s Leonardo, and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. (JAIEC).<\/p>\n

He said that costs would be competitive on the basis that industrial activities are not being duplicated.<\/p>\n

In June, the UK made a new commitment of \u00a38.6 billion ($11.5 billion) for GCAP over four years, followed days later with the three partner nations jointly investing \u00a34.6 billion to support the project\u2019s concept and assessment phase. The latest round of funding follows a \u00a3686 million design and engineering contract inked in April.<\/p>\n

Canada isn\u2019t expected to pitch in, as its observer status does not come with a financial commitment, at least for now.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on other industrial matters, Zoff said that no decision has been taken on where GCAP final assembly could take place but \u201cwe have to decide in the next few months,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall architecture of GCAP is created with an underpinning map of technologies and workshare between the three countries,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are trying to put together \u2026 the one third, one third, one third [national partner split] balance, and on the other side respecting a kind of versatility, meaning that we are leveraging the capabilities and the strengths that we have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Besides future decision making around workshare, the GCAP Power and Propulsion System consortium announced<\/a> that it has moved \u201ctowards final approval of the all-new centre line engine demonstrator design, with continued progression of component manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consortium comprises Avio Aero (Italy), IHI Corporation (Japan) and Rolls-Royce (UK).<\/p>\n

\"\"The BAE Systems Brontanax (Thunder King) CCA unveiling was hailed a \u201cgroundbreaking moment\u201d by UK defence secretary Wes Streeting (Breaking Defense)<\/p>\n

A Wingman Reveal<\/p>\n

GCAP is not expected to fly alone, but have a multitude of drone wingmen accompanying it.<\/p>\n

One of them could be the Brontanax, a new Combat Collaborative Aircraft (CCA) demonstrator made by BAE Systems and due to fly in 2027. The aircraft, revealed at Farnborough, is the company\u2019s solution for the Royal Air Force\u2019s Storm Fighter drone wingman effort.<\/p>\n

Air Chief Marshall Harv Smyth, UK chief of the Air Staff, said that the Brontanax launch was a \u201chistoric moment\u201d and fits within a wider RAF strategy to become \u201cEurope\u2019s first sixth-generation air force.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though designed to first team with Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, likely as part of NATO\u2019s exercise Steadfast Defender before the end of the year, the aircraft feeds directly into Britain\u2019s strategy of creating a path for loyal wingmen types to be integrated into GCAP.<\/p>\n

Building A Bridge To Sixth-Gen Capability<\/p>\n

Before GCAP comes into service, BAE Systems is planning the first flight of the UK Combat Air Flying Demonstrator in the \u201cearly part\u201d of 2028, according to a senior company executive.<\/p>\n

The crewed, supersonic jet is envisioned as a \u201cbridge\u201d from Eurofighter Typhoon fourth-generation technology to a sixth-generation capability, Tony Godbold, FCAS delivery director at BAE Systems told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the Farnborough air show. (BAE\u2019s FCAS office has no relation to the defunct international project.)<\/p>\n

Aimed at de-risking critical technologies supporting GCAP, production is at an advanced stage, ahead of the flight test schedule, which will first focus on validating stealth capabilities, aircraft handling, propulsion and airflow.<\/p>\n

Godbold said that almost 90 percent of parts for the demonstrator are at different stages of manufacturing, covering approximately 11,500 components.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe major units of the aircraft \u2026 front, center, rear fuselage, wings, fins, have been in manufacture for over 18 months now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Next steps will see the demonstrator\u2019s final assembly process launch in a matter of \u201cweeks,\u201d culminating in a year-end target of transferring the front, center and rear fuselage from company facilities in Samlesbury to Warton, a Eurofighter production site.<\/p>\n

Systems integration, flight clearance activities and work toward a military airworthiness certificate will follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrecisely what we\u2019ll start with on the first flight is still being finalized, so that will come in due course,\u201d noted Godbold. \u201cBut ultimately, what we\u2019re looking to test are a lot of those six-gen features, size [and] shape of the aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cFirst of all, the handling characteristics of it, propulsion integration, and ensuring we can \u2026 get the airflow through a very complex ducting system\u201d which is paramount to meeting low observable requirements.<\/p>\n

Despite the non-involvement of GCAP partners Italy and Japan in development of the demonstrator, Godbold noted that both nations will be able to access information about it through Edgewing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the purpose of doing this, of course, is for learning for UK industry readiness,\u201d Godbold said, but \u201cwe\u2019re already in the process of a controlled data and information release, [enabling] data sharing with our [GCAP] partners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He declined to say how long the demonstrator could fly for but made clear that it could be used to support and validate future GCAP fighter test points.<\/p>\n

The demonstrator is funded under a \u00a32 billion investment linked to the UK\u2019s combat air strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FARNBOROUGH \u2014 Throughout the week, the trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) dominated chatter in the show halls,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1725,299,2520,14,93,2399,1036,349,1940,1451],"class_list":["post-4657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-air-force","tag-bae-systems","tag-cca","tag-defence-industry","tag-europe","tag-farnborough-2026","tag-gcap","tag-global","tag-rolls-royce","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}