 |
| Italy, Japan and the UK Agree to Merge the Tempest and F-X Fighter Jet Projects |
International Military - Italy, Japan and the UK have announced plans to combine their fighter jet development projects in a major partnership outside the United States (US) since World War II. The deal aims to operate advanced frontline combat aircraft by 2035, by "mating" the UK-led Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project also known as Tempest with Japan's F-X program.
The agreement was announced in their joint statement on Friday (9/12/2022). The collaboration will be referred to as the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP). "We are committed to upholding a rules-based, free and open international order, which is more important than ever at a time when these principles are challenged, and threats and aggression are increasing," the three leaders said in the joint statement, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
The deal comes as China ramps up military activity around self-styled Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea where Beijing is seeking to bolster its sweeping claims with military installations on artificial islands it has built.
Northeast Asia is also grappling with North Korea, which has carried out an unprecedented number of missile launches this year on fears it may soon test its newest nuclear weapon.
Japan, which has a pacifist constitution, has announced it will double its defense spending over the next five years to around 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). "We share the ambition for this aircraft to become the core of a broader combat air system that will function in multiple domains," their joint statement continued.
The US, which has pledged to defend the three countries through NATO membership and a separate security pact with Japan, has also welcomed the Euro-Japan deal. "The United States supports Japan's security and defense cooperation with like-minded allies and partners, including the United Kingdom and Italy," the US Department of Defense said in a joint statement with Japan's Ministry of Defense.