Joint venture for Japan-Britain-Italy fighter jet project launched
Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co -- set up by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and an aerospace industry group -- along with Britain's BAE Systems plc and Leonardo each holds a 33.3 percent share in the joint venture named Edgewing.
Headquartered in Britain, Edgewing will design and develop the combat aircraft. It will play a central role in achieving the program's goals, including having the fighter in service by 2035, the companies said.
"We are not only delivering the next-generation combat air system -- we aim to set a new global standard for partnership, innovation and trust," Edgewing CEO Marco Zoff, formerly managing director of Leonardo Aircraft Division, said in a statement on Friday.
The Global Combat Air Program was announced in 2022 as Japan and the European countries moved to strengthen security cooperation in response to China's increasing military activities in the Indo-Pacific region and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
An international body to manage the program on behalf of the participating nations, the GCAP International Government Organization, was launched in December last year, also in Britain.
Masami Oka, head of the organization and formerly a senior Japanese Defense Ministry official, said in the statement that he welcomed the launch of Edgewing, adding that "effective and empowered collaboration" between his organization and Edgewing will be critical to the success of GCAP.
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