In a recent call on July 6, Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan and Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Prime Minister Kishida began by congratulating Starmer on his new role, emphasizing the importance of the Japan-UK relationship.
He stated, “The partnership between Japan and the UK, sharing values and principles, has never been closer and more robust.” Kishida also thanked the UK for the warm welcome extended to the Emperor and Empress of Japan during their visit.
Prime Minister Starmer echoed these sentiments, expressing his honour at meeting Their Majesties and his eagerness to build even closer ties with Japan. “It was an honour to be given the opportunity to exchange greetings with Their Majesties,” Starmer said.
The two leaders agreed that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is deeply connected and stressed the need for ongoing cooperation. “The security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is inseparable and affirmed their close collaboration,” the call summary mentioned.
A key topic of their discussion was the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a joint effort by the UK, Japan, and Italy to develop a next-generation stealth fighter. This initiative aims to replace existing aircraft like the Eurofighter Typhoon and Mitsubishi F-2. “The two leaders also affirmed to continue to promote cooperation between the two countries including the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP),” the summary noted.
GCAP involves around 9,000 people and over 1,000 suppliers worldwide, with 600 in the UK and 400 in Italy and Japan.
The conversation also touched on other global issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and East Asia. Both leaders reaffirmed their dedication to working together within the G7 and other international platforms to tackle these challenges.
It’s the 6th of July, not July 6.
Do we know what time this happened it could have been 7th of July in Japan 🕛🕧🕐🕜🕑🕝⏰
He actually was pointing out that the date of the article and the date in the article is in the US format M/D/Y where as the UK format is D/M/Y
Yes and I was pointing out, so what, I have used both ways and have all my long life and personally I am more concerned about people pronouncing words like Amazon AnaZON but hey ho we will all be saying JagWA next.
Yes, funny that. I was giving this some thought, and came to the realisation I do too, without ever considering it. I use the day, month the most but month, day, does creep in.
To be honest when your managing a IT filling system the US way of month day is so much better…as something like windows will sort your files in order of month 1-12 if you have the month first..but if you have day first it all goes to pot.
ISO 8610 works best of all.
It’s not actually true….it’s only none British formate if your writing the date in numbers…so there is a healthy British tradition of doing it both ways if we are writing the month…there are organisations that have always done it that way and sampling of British letter writing shows both examples in the early 20c…it’s just more common to do it day month…what is exclusivity US and Canadian is writing it month day when using number only formate.
Blisterin’ Barnacles Bazza! They both mean the same.
🥱🥱🥱🤦♂️
The point being it’s a little bit more of British culture been taken for granted.
Some people see the colour (color) red… I bet you don’t even know there is a correct way to fly the UKs union flag. That flying it the wrong way is a in distress warning.
I most certainly do know about the Union Jack being flown the incorrect way and I’m not British. But whether you disagree with the use of the term Union Jack, which most people use instead of Union Flag, you wouldn’t post online to correct it because that would be pedantic, and, as you know, nobody likes a pedant. Furthermore, I guess I was a child the last time I saw “1st of July” date format. I see 1st July being used mostly and the Americanised July 1. If you are worried about Americanisation, or should I say AmericaniZation, that ship… Read more »
yeah but its still English and not American- this is a UK based site and as such we should adhere to all things English (with all due deference to our Celticcousins of course).
There are certain standards you know 😉.
I am however more annoyed at the perchant these days for putting ‘super’ in front of everything to describe just how much of it you are ….
That really/extremely/ annoys me…it does NOT -and I may add never has – super annoyed me.
Nope it’s not, when you are using the written word for the month it’s acceptable to do it both ways in Britain…it’s been that way for a very very long time…we more commonly use day, written month in words, but we have also always used written month in words then date as well..some organisations in the Uk have always used that formate as have some individuals..if you review a sample of early British 20c letters you fine both formats…the day month is just more common..what is distinctly American is to write month day when using number formate.
Well said having had to deal with translation all my working life being tied to the way the Germans (when not simply adopting English terms) make up new descriptive words literally without cutting them back to shorter forms like we do is a serious pain in the back side. For example electric drill becomes elektrische Bohrmaschine, I’m surprised they ever managed to survive the Industrial Revolution let alone become so prevalent when simply describing the inventions became a technical nightmare to overcome.
Oh please conflating the two things is ridiculous. There are so many ways American culture is supplanting ours and we lazily go along with it but the example referred to as used in the article is one that we have used either way for decades only when it is abbreviated is it in an American format. By the way we have to be careful many things we think are of American origin in fact aren’t but at some stage the particular English usage of the term has faded, changed or concentrated upon one of sometimes multiple variations usually during Victorian… Read more »
—NB: previously posted with links but awaiting approval. Last time that took 12 weeks.—- If you want to find out what English West Country folk sounded like in the 1600s and 1700s check out Ebonics. Ebonics is an American dialect spoken today, for the most part by African Americans. The phrases and word such as chitterings, rednecks and crackers came from England. Search YouTube for: “Black English did not originate from Africa – Thomas Sowell” Eventhough the Anglo Saxons brought over the German language to what would become England, they used the native grammar instead of the German. Here are… Read more »
Typo: chitterlings, not chitterings. D’oh!
Yes indeed, it’s alway the case generally that colonial forms of language are less dynamic in regards to changes and in the case of US English it’s actually closer to how the British spoke at the point the colonials when of and did their thing.
In regards to date month or month date..if you are actually writing the month in words..it’s perfectly acceptable British formate to either have the day or month first…it’s only US formate only if your writing it in numbers…
Sorry but when you are using the month in written words “July” it’s actually British culture to do it both ways…it’s only when the date is written in number formate that it’s British to only write it day, month year….if you take a sample of British letters from say 1900 to 1945 you would find a mix of formates for written word months….and some organisations specifically use written month first…
Just another small bit of the UK turning into a mini US.. I couldn’t help noticing on the 4th July (July 4th for any Yanks) but the Yanks celebrate the 4th of July just to confuse people. My local UK radio station were actually joining in the celebration by making it American day only played American music .🤔😠😡🤬 Plus the country is turning obese thanks to the Yanks fast food.. If you are British celebrate 🎉 the fact..
The month then the day is the British standard. The USA kept it after they kicked us out. The day then month is a European (Napolenic) standard we adopted later on.
every day is a school day (well apart from Saturday & Sunday of course) …
Aah there you go a general concept I alluded to in a comment above, thx for explaining that specific one, but it is in fact quite a common phenomena ie that the change happened here through various influence while the more traditional use remained there. People don’t realise that the US did not even drive on the right for many years it varied throughout the Country but various events there or here codify matters very often the printing press enforced a choice which is how Hertford here is spelt Hartford there despite it being founded by Hartford grandees purely, like… Read more »
Bit like everyone drinking Guiness on St Patricks day …just why ?
Still they know their audience I suppose , any excuse for a pi$$ up in the UK.
Shouldn’t you be thrilled that for one day every year, the USA grinds to a halt in order to celebrate one of your own, that great Brit, St Patrick🇮🇪🇬🇧🇺🇲. You should be proud of your diaspora.
Agreed. Progress, they just extended voting rights for life to UK citizens. Previously if you dared leave to go seek your fortune or sail round the world, you were stripped of your voting rights after 14 years.
Next up is taxing worldwide income like the USA and Zimbabwe insist on. That will be an interesting contest to see how that works out with Washington and Harare overreach.
diaspora…that’s one way to put invading and stealing everything including the people…poor Patrick…You see…. evidence that the Irish started it…your lot were picking on the Welsh well before the English become enablers for a bunch of raving lunatic “Norman” troublemakers. 🤣😂
On this I can identify I avoid Americans on 4th July it just gets so monotonous explaining to them it is NOT a world wide day of celebration. Some even appear confused by that fact when it’s explained.
Even funnier was the US reporter interviewing Nelson Mandela who insisted on calling the new President an African American!
It’s actually perfectly British to do “month day” if you are writing the month in words..always has been.
Actually in the case of written month is is a UK norm to either write before or after the date…some British institutions have always written it this way and if you sample UK letter writing way back into the early 20c you will find examples of both..it is more common to write it day, written month than written month day..but it’s British to do both..what we don’t do is write it month day if we are just using numbers….that’s pure American.
I didn’t know that, thank you.
Hopefully the Japanese influence will help this come in on a reasonable budget so we get a decent number
As long as Fujitsu aren’t involved.
Another labour in government myth dispelled, firm commitment to the Asia Pacific and maintaining GCAP program as expected.
I’m very, VERY pleased to read this, Jim.
Coming from the PM himself, too. I hope it still stands after the SDSR unchanged.
Fingers crossed but everything I hear is they don’t want to rock the boat and the new defence secretary is genuinely interested in defence.
Labour won all the seats near ship yards in Scotland and they are gunning for the SNP so surface ships are guaranteed.
H&W is likely to be the biggest risk but H&W also have 2 yards with new labour MP’s so I can’t see them letting them go under.
Even outside of the political benefits, this is a strictly necessary task. Our build plans are insufficient for need and must be expanded, regardless of polls.
Even as a Labour voter though, I am so suspicious of what they’ll end up doing. Commitments in the campaign were very vague – I want to see bold decisions and dedication to Britain’s defence+power projection capabilities.
Bravo!
Starlet’s already fecked me off. As he announced that he may be over-ruling the decision to not prosecute him ex servicemen who served during the Troubles in NI. He should let it lie, no good comes from these lengthy and costly trials. Especially as they are one sided. How about over-ruling the decision not to prosecute terrorists that took part in the Troubles?
What I really want to see is the defence review pushed through before the treasury review..otherwise it’s the usual cart before the horse of the treasury setting the goalposts. I am hopeful as they have said the review is going to start immediately, that there will be no cutting of capabilities and they are rock solid on 2.5%. To be honest I would lay money on the following as very likely: 1) we get more frigates ordered ( this makes sense from a grow the economy point, defence point and even makes the unions happy..so it’s win win win for… Read more »
Morning Jonathan. The bad things that may happen are noticeably absent from that list! “There will be no cutting of capabilities” Sorry, that I missed, where was that stated? I’d also spin that and suggest no reforming of the ones cut by the Tories either, so the blame can remain firmly in their court. So politics again. 1. I’d see this as an obvious one seeming as it will be purely political re SNP! 2. Keeping the same makes their complaints on the size shrinking as hollow as the terminology they used previously. The Army either needs wholesale reforming, something… Read more »
I agree, the % is really functionally irrelevant, you should decide what you need to defend the nations interest against the threats and then pay for it…if that is 2.4 or 3% it’s irrelevant as that percentage changes on economic output…. as for what i think we can loss…the only things I can think of is: 1) cap badges.. 2) horses and ceremonial units. I would I’m afraid cut the public duty battalion role to the bone..which links into 3) light role infantry…if you add the public duty and light role that’s 14 battalions…that’s way to many…I’m not sure there… Read more »
Jonathan,
What do you mean by ‘lose cap badges’? Amalgamate certain infantry regiments and cavalry regiments yet again? Is that to cut regular army manpower again? Do you think 73,000 is too many soldiers?
Ceremonial units. We are at the minimum already. Troops on Public Duties (PD) can of course drop everything and deploy on operations quickly in extremis – this happened on Op CORPORATE. All soldiers on PD move on to a Field Army unit after a set time.
Light role Infantry are deployable – Op BANNER, Op PALLISER, Op AGRICOLA, Op CORPORATE, Op PITTING….the list is endless.
Hi graham losing or amalgamation of regiments does not mean losing numbers..simply put single 1 battalions regiments are sucking resources and the reason those single battalions regiments exist is because they are considered more senior. As an example the royal regiment of Scot’s has five times the battalions as one of the Guards regiments….that’s pure cap badge protectionism and it pisses money away each year in waste..infact the entire set of foots guards regiments (all 6 of them) have one more battalion than the Scots. so yes it’s hard but I would cull any single or even duel battalion regiments… Read more »
Hi Jonathan, how are infantry regiments of just 1 or 2 battalions pissing away money? Say under your thinking you created the Royal Regiment of Foot Guards with 7 battalions (both Grenadier and Coldstream battalions and the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards battalions. How much money have you saved? Cutting the number of ceremonial duties? Are you going to ask the King, or shall I? Will that save much money? Will it generate more combat-ready soldiers? In my last post I detailed a large number of operations conducted by light role infantry. I am sure we have deployed light role… Read more »
Jonathan, you seem to be somewhat fixated on the idea that most of the Infantry should be orientated to fighting a modern peer conflict in Europe. That means warfighting against Russia in eastern Europe. That is the most demanding but least likely scenario for the Infantry. When did that last happen? Our infantry have frequently been deployed in Europe and overseas against an asymmetric opponent, and they have largely been light role infantry (which of course includes Paras). 3 (UK) Div is our ‘warfighting’ division which would be launched against a peer or near-peer opponent. It should be configured with… Read more »
Hi Graham, I suppose because at present the most likely future threats are peer…the 1992- 2010 period did not really have peer threats per say..the 2020s is essentially a decade of peer threats…Asymmetric threats are alway there, but in reality our major opponents are Russia with all its satellites china and possibly iran and North Korea…I just think that where as the last 30 years were an age of expeditionary warfare against asymmetric opponents..the next decade will be completely different…even if we do undertake expeditionary warfare it’s likely that we would see counter operations by peers ( china is quite… Read more »
Hi Jonathan, Current threats include the Houthi and IS and we are active against them – I don’t see them shutting up shop anytime soon – Op SHADER is about to enter its 10th year. Who knows if paramilitary extremism again comes to the streets of Northern Ireland – hopefully not. As for peer threats, Russia is our (ie NATOs) closest and most troubling threat. In April this year, we recently took on Iranian missiles incoming to Israel together with the US, France and Jordan. I am not sure China is a satellite of Russia – they rank as senior,… Read more »
It has been said that the SDSR may take a year to do! Blair’s 1998 one took 15 months!
By Treasury Review, do you mean the Comprehensive Spending Review or the Spending Review (if it is not to be comprehensive)? I cannot see that being done after SDSR reports.
Hi Graham, comprehensive spending reviews last one was 2021/2022..the next is due to occur in the summer of 2025..so there is just over a year to the next review…
So it’s a key question if they get the findings of the defence review before the spending review next Sumer then we will have at least the possibility of the dog wagging the tail…if the spending review publishes before the defence review then we know the tail wagged the dog.
Thanks. I had not heard the dates. Labour could also conduct a (non-comprehensive) spending review in certain limited areas, such as Defence, before then. That has happened several times before.
After the Rwanda suggestions that the UK might withdraw from the ECHR and the pending case brought against the UK by Ireland, Starmer is keen to bolster the international reputation of the UK. We signed the deal agreement: we will keep our word.
FYI: In 2014 the then Attorney General of Ireland, Michael McDowell declared that the then Govt would no longer investigate or prosecute cases relating to the troubles. That is cases relating to bombings, murder, kidnap, torture and rape. Since then, 10 years ago, no one has been investigated or prosecuted for such crimes in the ROI. In light of this FACT, do you not think that our Govt, the Irish Govt, maybe a tad hypocritical? BTW it is the party in power now, calling out the Brits for human rights violations, that made that decision in 2014. Is there an… Read more »
Mark, I think the issue is that the wounds of folks in the North are still very raw. It’s easy for those not directly involved to say it’s time people ‘moved on’ but trying to force acceptance is viewed as insensitive and just has the opposite effect. A mother will take a lifetime to grieve for a lost son. It would have been perfectly possible in theory, for the UK to have adopted the same approach as Ireland. The prosecution service could have decided case by case that prosecution was not in the public interest. Has their choice made for… Read more »
Read your post again. You weren’t making that point at all. You were referring to a case Ireland was bringing against the UK. This is for a so called violation of an agreement for which we were violating since before the ink dried on the signatures. Your point is clear that Starmer would honourably uphold an agreement that the dishonourable Tories would not. Well I’ve news for you; neither were the Irish Govt and that was my point – holier-than-thou hypocrites.
So, I agree the Irish protagonists are no angels. That said the UK government should have been watching where they were walking – don’t step on the broken glass or you’ll cut yourself. Substitute your favourite analogy.
My favourite analogy???????
I do have a favourite idiom: “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”
Fair enough.
And a kind word turns wrath away 🙂
All such tragic incidents were investigated at the time. The Police (later the CPS) could have prosecuted at the time if the evidence against the man was there. Why do this decades later?
Quite. There comes a time when you have to let things go or they will consume you. A fire will go out when it runs out of fuel, but if you kick over the embers it can flare up again.
Indeed I have been shocked by some of the reactions to immigrants, this will I suspect only get worse as the ‘problem’ evolves.
Here in the SW of Ireland the tourist industry is a huge part of the economy. Many business owners and their employees depend on it for their livelihoods. The industry cannot thrive or even survive without the big spending Yanks, Brits, Dutch and Germans. However, with many of the hotels and holiday homes now occupied by freeloading illegals, many businesses are suffering. Come September, when colleges and universities recommence, students will find it next to impossible to find accommodation due to being occupied by migrants. The dire accomadation shortage has also driven rents through the roof and making it unaffordable… Read more »
Fear not! Following the departure of the UK from the EU, Macron has invented the EPC, the European Political Community, which includes the UK; the EPC is already rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of the dying EU. Happy days are here again …..I’m doing a good deal on bridges this week 🙂
It’s all good so far. Another plus is that that both the Japanese and British Tempests will be right hand drive.
Brilliant 👏
👏👏👏
This has been long overdue, the reliance on the US and European conglomerates is not great for supply chain and making decisions that the Armed Forces need to happen quick. While Japan is a partner they are also looking at that side of the house as they already build their own with the likes of the Kawasaki P1 and C2 and they will be able to bring some of that knowledge to the table along with Rolls Royce and BAE it should make for an very effective platform if done correctly.
Agreed and lets not forget Italy’s experience and expertise and the more than likely possibility that the Germans might just want in at some point. I can’t wait to see the specs, hopefully it’ll have a long range and large payload.
Yes the Italians do bring a lot and I never mentioned them as it was about Japan and UK. But on a broader note I would not allow the Germans entry as that is then a 4th member and the more you have then delays start to happen as more decisions have to be made about compromises. Typhoon should have been in service in the late 90’s, if we want Tempest in service in the early 2030’s we need to keep the members to a bare minimum and get on with it now and make those hard decisions now other… Read more »
Hello Baz, I wasn’t “picking you up” regards the Italians, more highlighting what a great partnership it seems to be. My own opinion about the German involvement is really more of a purchase of aircraft than any actual involvement in the programme itself, they would be way too late to the party. Global Britain 💪
Thanks for the clarification, agree the Italians would be a better partner than others would be able to purchase.
I would take Saudi over Germany any day. Both would be better than India though.
I would say that Saudi Arabia might just be one of the potential buyers given their track record. India has messed around with Typhoon and I’d not want to waste any time or effort on even trying.
If they come running then sell to them but they have a India produced policy so any deal would likely be complex to resolve but equally they are desperate for state of the art aviation (with China and Pakistan serious modern aviation threats) so they are going to have to seriously compromise somewhere and Russian alternatives decidedly and increasingly suspect. Something has to budge I suspect.
I think you need to watch the potentially growing Saudi relationships with Russia and China… wouldn’t they just love to reverse engineer a Typhoon and then the Tempest and the Meteor. Had to chuckle the other day seeing the Chinese copy of the Swedish “Visby” as their new “stealth” corvette complete with the angular forward gun mount. What next? Just wait for the Chinese CAMM copy to “pop up” somewhere … quite literally… Lol 😁. I noticed here too that their GWM has even ripped off the classic Jeep Wrangler…and i must say they’ve done a good job. Unstoppable aren’t… Read more »
Saudi is an easy one as they just will add money and not really get too involved, India are playing a dangerous game at the min. They want to have a line in India its self to build on license, which the french seem to be considering. And then you have the Indian PM embracing Putin!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think there’s room for other countries building non-core platforms, such as loyal wingmen and swarm drones.
There is but depends who it is.
Stealthy TSR2 😉
Well that’s not such a bad Idea really, maybe time to dust off the Blue Steel plans. A long range undetectable delivery system at a fraction of the cost of Dreadnought, what’s not to like about that ?
The strategic deterrence arguments are a bit above my pay grade, but instinctively I think its worth pursuing. The UK has a lot of overseas bases.
At the moment…..!
Indeed. The mood music sounds like a shift in emphasis to the defence of Europe. AUKUS is a done deal so we will stick with our commitments but no increase in AP over the two existing OPVs. I think CSG 2025 will be cancelled. Any growth in defence will be directed at forces in Europe, the Atlantic and the threat from Russia. Be interesting to see how we assess the threat from Boko Haram and the Russian proxies in Africa. We have to stay in the Persian Gulf as long as we depend on the gas, and also to be… Read more »
Your last sentence is my greatest concern.
Falklands, Ascension, Gibraltar, Cyprus are for me the prime assets that must not be dispensed with.
And some locations in Oman.
I’d be very surprised to see us exit any of those.
Definitely do not invite the Germans. They over promise numbers in order to get work share and then stuff up the project by prioritising commercial interests over defence needs. If they want Tempest they can try being customers.
I didn’t say that though, just an opinion that things might not be going so well with the French/German equivalent and we might yet see Germany “Wanting In” as in buying. 👌
Yes, I’d not allow anyone else in at all after the history we have with Germany and France.
Japan is also very suspicious of S Arabia, and I agree with them.
me too…although having said that its only perhaps my generation that tend to ‘overlook’ the history of Japan.
My parents didnt trust ’em & my grandparents wouldn’t allow anything Japanese in the house..nothing.
I can remember my grandad going mad when the local rental shop bought a Japanese TV round…
It soon went back along with the flea in the poor guys ear.
Yes, I actually have a lot of time for Japan, it’s culture, and people.
But I get why the older generation feel so strongly about them.
Your grandparents sound pretty racist.
🙄 It’s not race!!! I think that its due to what they did to our PoWs with no apology after, which ran deep for a long time. I recall my grandparents were the same.
I knew war vets who lined the mall and turned their backs on the Japanese entourage when there was a state visit.
They’re making a point.
That’s exactly racists, blaming innocent people for the sins of their government and military based on their ethnic origin and nationality.
The British government in the past had been responsible for millions of deaths, mistreatment of prisoners and the inslavement of millions none of which I expect to be blamed for today.
The British government has also done massive amounts of good in the past, promoting democracy and the rule of law, spreading the enlightenment and stopping slavery, none of which I expect credit for.
I will merely add that they had close friends who came back broken men from Japanese PoW camps and I was merely pointing out that attitiudes towards countries change over time which I felt fed into this thread.
Apart from that I will treat that comment with the contempt it deserves- and by association you .
Please do not comment on anything else I may write- as I will you.
Good day to you sir!
It’s interesting to note that Japan and Britain were allies once until the British dominions pressured Britain to end the alliance
Britain has been allied to and enemy off pretty much every country and empire that ever existed. If you used war as your only metric in establishing if a country and its people were nice we would probably go down as history’s greatest monsters. We obliterated entire nations from the air and helped birth the atomic bomb. If it hadn’t been for some modifications to the B29 we would probably have been the first country to drop an atomic bomb as well. We were probably right to do all those things but I doubt the people we did them to… Read more »
I’ll comment on what I like, your parents were clearly racist, most people back then probably were as well. You’re quoting their historic behaviour for what purpose? Was there a point to your comment?
It’s been widely known that around 3,000 Japanese PoW guards were in fact, ethnic Korean “Japanese” soldiers. Off course, there were no “Korea” during the WWII. You can read Russel Braddon’s book “The Naked Island”…..
Could give them a licence build I guess with some trade off deals perhaps but suspect they want their own capabilities developed which is where their arguments with the French start to develop. Again something may have to budge for them to get what they seek.
Hope it becomes a nice long endurance fighter , and has a good internal capacity to be a bomber too.
Rumour is it’s huge.
Hopefully they don’t try to emulate the Jack of all trades functionality that was attempted with TSR2 – as we all know how that ended up
with the advancement of missile tech (AIM-260, SM-6 esp. with 200+ mile range) and better sensors especially with networking and loyal wingmen- i think something like the B-21 would fit the bill. I actually think thats what the US will choose for NGAD. traditional fighters are just too short in range and small in payload for most jobs in the pacific.
Good news indeed. Although there are some arguments that we cannot afford to go it alone, the return on investment in defence R&D remains high. The specs won’t be known yet, but we can assume variable cycle engines (which the swedes may want for their Grippen replacement and might even end up in the French / German effort). An aircraft with similar stealth to the F35, but far longer legged, with higher and faster cruise speeds would be very capable. The F35 programme as well as other US purchases show the wider issues with our defence industry when we go… Read more »
Well for starters the aircraft won’t have the STOVL requirement. Which would have placed some serious constraints on the design. However, it was telling when Sweden pulled out. Which some are now saying is due to the cost of joining NATO rather than the aircraft’s initial design. The model first unveiled at Farnborough, then later changed for RIAT does show the direction the aircraft is heading. Which is not the final GCAP design. As the rumours are it will be bigger still. One of the requirements is to maintain radar stealth over distance agsinst peer air defence threats. So the… Read more »
It will be a big aircraft as you say to meet that range and internal weapons carriage. I keep wondering how they may derisk the elements – drones, new engines, new airframe – else the cost and risk as it comes together will be significant. I do think we should be looking at more Typhoons as an interim measure and I am sure things like the AESA radar and how to work with drones would all derisk tempest. It’s an exciting project, but as the first combat aircraft that has been designed in the UK since the Typhoon it will… Read more »
To mitigate much if the risk, GCAP will have a number of flying test beds. The first is by BAe, just like the EAP was to Typhoon. They are building a prototype of GCAP. I think one of the biggest unknowns is what are the aerodynamic effects on the weapons in the weapons bay, when the doors open and the weapon is ejected. I think we have a pretty good idea of the effects at subsonic speeds, but not supersonic. You can guarantee that Northrop, Boeing and Lockheed Martin won’t share their data on this. The last operational aircraft we… Read more »
No way GCAP going to be that, it’s replacing the F2 in Japanese service. It won’t be anything like as big or expensive as NGAD and NGAD’s probably going to get canceled for being too big and expensive.
GCAP is likely to be similar in size to Typhoon.
Not what I’ve heard, mate. I think it’s going to be bigger.
Confirmed by the selected ( lucky ) Journo’s who had been invited to BAE Warton to see the progress so far on GCAP.
Yes! That report was my source!
The F35A is replacing the F2. Think about it logically. What role does the F2 do and what the F35A excels at. The answer is strike. The F15J is older than the F2. Japan do not see an upgraded F15EX as being competitive with the Chinese J20 or J31. Avionics wise it’s behind Russia’s Su-35. It needs replacing and requires an aircraft that re-levels the playing field in Japan’s favor. GCAP is the answer. There is scope it could be as expensive as NGAD. But I’m hoping it’s not. The demonstrator will help. But it will require the MoD to… Read more »
It is incorrect to say that GCAP is replacing the Mitsubishi F2 (Japanese modified F16). As the more important aircraft it is replacing is their F15Js. Which is their primary air defence fighter. The F35A is largely replacing the the F2 in the strike role and supplementing the F15J in air defence. So the primary aircraft is replacing is the F15J, but also a number of F2s, that aren’t being replaced by the F35A. According to Japanese sources they are looking to fund a 1:1 replacement program for both the F15J and F2. Which would mean around 160 GCAPs for… Read more »
So shoud we be emulating a similar structure – i.e purchasing F35A’s to provide strike capability?
As much as I’d like the RAF to get the F35A for strike etc and the FAA to get the F35B for carrier ops. We all know it’s not going happen. There’s simply not enough money. Which means we can realistically only have the F35B. As that means there’s only one logistical and maintenance stream to cater for.
I wonder what FIA 2024 will bring.
Excellent news. I will admit I feared Starmer would string these vital projects out. Let’s face it, with the US taking their ball home with respect to the NGAD, we must have a comparable platform for the future.
It’s my understanding that the Japanese are working on a railgun and high power laser systems for their new DDX Destroyers, might be an idea if the RN looked to join those programs too??