Europe-Japan Fighter Jet Races Against China's Military Progress

Mint

23-05-2025

A senior figure involved in the development of an advanced European-Japanese fighter jet justified the amount of resources earmarked for the project over the next decade based on the need to keep pace with China even as the military also faces the near-term risk of more Russian aggression in Europe.
'The immediate threat can be managed with current weapons systems. The evolution of the threat also has to be managed,' Brig. Gen. Edoardo de Santo, Senior Commanding Engineer at Leonardo SpA., said in an interview.
Leonardo is the main Italian partner in the Global Combat Air Program, a project with the UK and Japan formalized last year to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter aircraft with a goal of having it enter service in 2035.
The countries are aiming for the GC fighter to exceed the capabilities of current fifth-generation fighters such as the F-35 in areas such as target location and avoiding detection. Plans call for the fighter to serve as a flying control center for drones and other military assets in addition to operating its own weapons systems.
The design of the aircraft isn't scheduled to be confirmed until next year as the nations involved rethink the role of the stealth fighter to try and retain an edge over rivals such as China.
A rare indication of the progress of China's military technology came recently when Pakistan said it used Chinese-made fighter jets to shoot down French-made Indian fighters during the recent escalation in military tensions. While the claim hasn't been confirmed, it heightened speculation that China's focus on modernizing its military is making significant progress.
Speaking on Thursday at the Defense and Security Equipment International conference being held just outside Tokyo, de Santo said the decade-long timeline for the GC project was very short given its complexity. He also denied that funds could be better spent to deal with more immediate threats.
Overall spending figures for GC haven't been released, but the UK has so far earmarked £14 billion for the program.
'Jumping to the sixth generation will not be easy because a lot of things will be new, such as the aircraft sensors and communications,' de Santo said, adding that technologies developed for the aircraft will have military and non-military applications outside the GC project.
'This is how we will deal with the future threat,' he said.
Potential financial support for the GC program may come from Saudi Arabia, which is discussing joining the project. De Santo also said that the partner countries remain open to others joining if they can bring specific contributions and make it more efficient.
The partner countries also aim to export the aircraft, with Australia and India possible destinations, according to Japanese media reports.
Leonardo, BAE Systems Plc of the UK and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. each own a 33.3% stake in a new company headquartered in the UK that will develop and manufacture jets under the GC program. The new aircraft are intended to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon jets in the Royal Air Force's fleet and Japan's fleet of F-2 fighters.
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