The GCAP is getting closer. The Italian, Japanese and British defence industry leaders working on the Global Combat Air Programme – a project to develop the sixth-generation fighter jet – agreed on Tuesday on the next steps to deliver the concept phase. The agreement “reflects positive momentum and strong trilateral cooperation, and will involve the industry partners maturing integration, collaboration and sharing of information towards the next phase of GCAP,” according to an official note.
Aligning spheres. All three companies – BAE Systems (UK), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and Leonardo (Italy) – will be showcasing their progress at the DSEI security and defence conference in London, one of the industry’s biggest. And in a few days Italian and British representatives will take part in the Pontignano Conference, a traditional event in the bilateral relation between London and Rome.
- In the backdrop, ties between Italy, Japan and the UK are consolidating even further, while the GCAP programme attracts the attention of other countries – such as Sweden and Saudi Arabia, as well as (possibly) France and Germany…
- … demonstrating a growing interconnection from the Atlantic, across Europe, and all the way into the Indo-Pacific.
The ministerial meeting. Meanwhile, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto made his way to London for an official visit and a “series of institutional encounters.” He was slated to meet bilaterally and trilaterally with his Japanese and British counterparts, but a sudden personal loss forced the latter, Minister Grant Shapps, to cancel the appointment.
- Decode39 understands Minister Crosetto will instead join a trilateral meeting with a junior minister (who’s authorised for purchases) representing the British side on Wednesday.
