Around half of the main aircraft structure for the UK Combat Air Demonstrator is now in final assembly, marking progress on the first crewed combat aircraft to be built in Britain in four decades, BAE Systems stated.
The update came as the Team Tempest partners, which bring together the Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA and Rolls-Royce, announced a set of milestones across technology programmes feeding the UK’s Future Combat Air System and its role in the Global Combat Air Programme.
According to the partnership, more than 11,500 parts have been designed to date, accounting for around 90% of the aircraft’s overall weight, with many developed through the UK supply chain.
The partners also reported completion of the first robotically assembled component in what BAE Systems describes as its Factory of the Future, an achievement the company characterises as a first for UK industry. The component is scheduled to undergo structural testing later this year alongside one of the wings.
Richard Berthon, Director of Future Combat Air at the Ministry of Defence, was quoted in the press release as saying: “These achievements demonstrate the pace and scale of progress being delivered through the Team Tempest enterprise. From advanced digital manufacturing and flight testing to next-generation propulsion technologies, we are maturing the critical capabilities needed to deliver a world-leading Future Combat Air System for the UK. The expertise, skills and technologies being developed today are not only reducing risk for GCAP, they are strengthening our sovereign combat air capability and ensuring the UK remains at the forefront of air power innovation for decades to come.”
The demonstrator is being built by the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems, with Rolls-Royce and MBDA, to prove aerospace engineering, digital design and manufacturing techniques intended to shape the next-generation fighter delivered through GCAP. According to the partnership, the aircraft is the UK’s first flying combat air demonstrator in more than 40 years, designed and built domestically.
Team Tempest was launched in 2018 and now involves more than 4,500 people across the industry partners and the Ministry of Defence. The wider Tempest programme is expected, according to a PwC assessment published in October 2024, to contribute an estimated £37 billion to the UK economy between 2025 and 2070 and to support an average of 16,000 jobs a year over the next decade. GCAP, the trilateral effort under which the UK is working with Italy and Japan, is aimed at fielding a sixth-generation crewed fighter around 2035.
Excellent news!!
Does this mean that, in theory, if GCAP were to fall apart, Britain could turn this demonstrator into a production aircraft?
Where does it sit in relation to the GCAP agreement.
No. Demonstrator is not even a prototype, lots of work to do . I dont know what engines the demonstrator will have i suppose 2 EJ’s from Typhoon?
It will be interesting t know if could take the GCAP engines later
Interesting. In my book prototype is a test to see if a product or part will work in the eyes of the development team with the aim of correcting any problems in the design. A demonstrator is a step beyond that where you can demonstrate the product to a client, investor etc.
From Google AI
“In the aircraft industry, a demonstrator tests specific, unproven technologies to prove a concept. A prototype is the first full-scale, functioning version of a proposed new aircraft, designed to undergo rigorous testing for final certification and production”