GCAP Electronics Evolution has won an 18-month contract to continue developing sensing and communications systems for the Global Combat Air Programme’s next-generation fighter. The work covers integrated sensing, non-kinetic effects and communications capabilities for the sixth-generation aircraft, which is being developed by partners in the UK, Italy and Japan through the GCAP industrial structure.
The latest award follows an earlier contract between Edgewing and the GCAP Agency and keeps the multinational electronics consortium on track to build the aircraft’s mission-systems backbone. Leonardo, BAE Systems, Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. and Mitsubishi Electric are among the companies involved in the programme, which aims to fuse large volumes of sensor and communications data for crews operating in congested airspace.
The development effort is centred on creating a highly integrated electronic architecture for the fighter, often described within the programme as a technology hub. No contract value, workshare split or specific site for the work was disclosed.