In Tokyo next week, Japan, Britain, and Italy will sign a treaty that will establish a combined organization and industrial group to build their planned advanced jet fighter. This information comes from three people who have firsthand knowledge of the plans.
The British company BAE Systems PLC (BAES.L), the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T), and the Italian company Leonardo (LDOF.MI) are leading an industrial group initiative that will be under the supervision of a multi-national organization. According to the sources’ information, this group will allocate tasks to teams working on various Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) components, such as the engine and avionics.
Because they are not authorized to speak to the media, they requested that their identities not be revealed. According to a forecast that Reuters published in March, Japan and Britain will dominate GCAP, with around forty percent of the work. Rome referred to that as “speculative” and disregarded it.
A statement from Japan’s Ministry of Defense was not forthcoming. The British and Italian embassies did not immediately react to calls for comment from the officials at their respective embassies.
It will be one year after they created their first significant defense sector partnership by integrating the independent next-generation fighter projects of London and Tokyo. The agreement, which the parliaments of each nation must ratify, will come one year after that.
Two of the individuals stated that the administration of the project would be rotated among the three nations and that someone from Japan might take the first leadership of the project. They said that Masami Oka, a former adviser to the Ministry of Defense who retired as Vice Minister of International Affairs in July, is the most prominent contender for that position in Japan.
Oka did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to a report by Reuters in September, the three nations intend to select Britain as the location of the headquarters of the GCAP.
Other countries may potentially be considered junior partners by GCAP. Saudi Arabia is one of the potential candidates for this role since it would bring financial resources and a profitable market to the table for a project that is anticipated to cost tens of billions of dollars.
Several other businesses, including the European missile producer MBDA, the Japanese avionics company Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (6503.T), and the engine manufacturers Rolls-Royce PLC (RROYC.UL), IHI Corp. (7013.T), and Avio Aero, are also participating in the project.
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