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LONDON—The government organization running the tri-national Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) has awarded a long-awaited contract to push forward with the development of the future fighter.

 

The GCAP Agency, which manages and coordinates the program on behalf of the UK, Italy and Japan, awarded the £686 million ($905 million) contract to Edgewing on April 1.

 

Edgewing is the three-nation industrial joint venture of BAE Systems, Leonardo and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. (JAIEC) charged with design and development of the new combat aircraft.

 

Until now, contracts have been issued on a national basis by the three governments.

 

This contract is the first to be issued as part of the fully fledged international program. It will invest in “key design and engineering activities” and will support the concept and assessment phase of the project through June 30.

 

Edgewing describes the contract as enabling the trilateral partnership “to build momentum and accelerate pace of delivery.”

 

“With the signing of this international contract, Edgewing is now fully empowered to drive the program forward as its industrial lead,” an Edgewing spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our priority is to ensure that engineering work continues to meet planned milestones and the business continues to ramp up according to our projections.”

 

The GCAP program aims to develop a next-generation combat aircraft that will go on to replace the Eurofighter Typhoons flown by Italy and the UK and the Mitsubishi F-2s flown by Japan, with service entry planned for the latter half of the 2030s.

 

“This contract is an important moment for GCAP, as activities previously conducted under three nations’ contracts will now be carried out as part of a fully fledged international program,” said Masami Oka, the GCAP Agency chief executive.

 

GCAP Agency had expected to award the first contract to Edgewing in December 2025 or early January, but delayed publication of the UK government’s Defense Investment Plan held up approvals.

 

The plan, now more than eight months overdue, has held back key defense procurement and rearmament decisions, with no clear indication from the UK government on when it will be finalized.