The UK government says the full international contract for the Global Combat Air Programme will be signed by the end of June, moving GCAP from concept and assessment into full design work.
The deal will underpin the trilateral fighter effort between the UK, Japan and Italy, with Edgewing set to carry the industrial load through BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement. It follows the April bridging award that funded early design and engineering, but this next contract is expected to lock in the programme’s permanent structure and accelerate work on the sixth-generation aircraft and its unmanned loyal wingmen.
The timeline now turns on the UK-Japan summit and the final legal drafting.