Engine for Britain’s next fighter jet moves toward testing

The consortium developing the power and propulsion system for the Global Combat Air Programme has moved a step closer to ground testing its engine demonstrator following a series of design reviews, Rolls-Royce stated.

Avio Aero of Italy, Japan’s IHI Corporation and Rolls-Royce make up the consortium, which according to the company is driving the change in power and propulsion required for the next-generation combat aircraft being developed under GCAP. The company states that by strengthening their collaborative approach and reaching technological milestones, the partners are advancing capabilities intended to underpin the future security of the three nations.

Rolls-Royce describes the engine demonstrator as the point at which lessons drawn from its Orpheus programme are being scaled internationally. According to the company, Orpheus serves as a test of new working methods and agile engineering processes, with the rapid learning model developed through it directly shaping technology development and reducing risk for future aircraft. The consortium’s work is intended to culminate in ground testing of the demonstrator to gather data needed to de-risk the wider programme.

Alongside the international engine work, Rolls-Royce is supplying two modified EJ200 engines for the UK’s flying combat air demonstrator under the Future Combat Air System. The EJ200 is the powerplant used in the Eurofighter Typhoon, produced by the EuroJet consortium, and its adaptation for the demonstrator aircraft allows the airframe to fly without waiting on the next-generation engine.

That demonstrator is being built by BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence with Rolls-Royce and MBDA at Warton in Lancashire. Team Tempest partners confirmed this week that around half of the main aircraft structure is now in final assembly, with more than 11,500 parts designed to date accounting for roughly 90% of the aircraft’s overall weight.

GCAP was formed in December 2022, bringing together the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan to develop a sixth-generation crewed fighter intended to replace the Typhoon in British and Italian service and the F-2 in Japanese service, with an in-service target around 2035. The programme is overseen by a trilateral government organisation headquartered in the UK, with industrial delivery running through a joint venture formed by BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co.

Propulsion has been structured along the same trilateral lines, with each nation contributing an established engine manufacturer. The design reviews now completed represent the point at which the three companies’ separate work converges on a common demonstrator configuration ahead of hardware testing, a stage that will establish how the technologies developed in each country perform as a single integrated system.