Major funding boost to progress future fighter jet programme 13042023 CREDIT MOD — More than £650 million allocated to continue development of next generation fighter jet. Pictured: Concept art of the Tempest jet (Picture: MOD).

RAF

Tempest: £656m funding boost for sixth-generation fighter jet

The UK will propel the sixth-generation fighter jet programme into the next phase, focusing on technology with a £656 million funding allocation.

This is part of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) – a trilateral collaboration with Japan and Italy to develop the next generation of fighter jet.

Tempest is the UK name for the aircraft in development under GCAP.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded the major contract to BAE Systems on behalf of British defence firms; Leonardo UK, MBDA UK and Rolls-Royce, to progress the design and development of this aircraft.

According to the MOD: "The contract will build on the ground-breaking science, research and engineering already completed".

"Together, the partners will now progress the maturity of more than 60 cutting-edge technology demonstrations, digital concepts and new technologies."

These are "critical to the UK's sovereign defence capability" and will "help shape the final requirements with Japan and Italy for the combat air platform, due to enter service by 2035".

Watch: Defence analyst Tim Ripley gives his view on what project Tempest means for the future of UK air power.

The Tempest is designed to be an innovative stealth fighter with supersonic capability and equipped with cutting-edge technologies, including state-of-the-art sensing and protection capabilities.

This will look to make the aircraft one of the world's most advanced, interoperable, adaptable and connected fighter jets in service globally.

Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace said: "The next tranche of funding for future combat air will help fuse the combined technologies and expertise we have with our international partners – both in Europe and the Pacific - to deliver this world-leading fighter jet by 2035, protecting our skies for decades to come."

This latest investment forms part of more than £2 billion worth of UK Government spending on the project up to May 2025, announced in the 2021 Defence Command Paper.

Watch: What challenges face the fighter jets of the future?

Across the UK industry, work on this programme is driving investment in new digital technologies, tools and techniques, including model-based systems engineering with open architectures, digital twins and virtual environments.

The MOD believes this will "ensure the next-generation combat aircraft will be delivered more rapidly and more cost-effectively than previous combat air programmes".

This latest announcement follows the UK, Japan and Italy joining forces at DSEI Japan to showcase GCAP publicly for the first time since it was announced by the Prime Ministers of the UK, Japan and Italy late last year.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and RAF Chief Sir Mike Wigston in Japan for DSEI in Tokyo 160323 CREDIT MOD.jpg_.jpg — RAF Chief Sir Mike Wigston joined the Defence Secretary on his visit to Japan (Picture: MOD).

In March, the Defence Secretary visited Tokyo to view some of the leading technology that is driving this unique programme.

At DSEI Japan, the three countries showed off some of the ground-breaking technology that the GCAP has produced, as well as a new visual identity and logo for the scheme.