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Japan Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan, U.K, Italy open to Saudis joining next-gen fighter program
Japan, Britain and Italy are in tacit agreement that Saudi Arabia could be allowed to join their fighter aircraft development program — but only once the multibillion-dollar project is well under way and the partners have cleared all outstanding points, including concerns over tech-sharing, sources familiar with the issues say. This means that Riyadh and other future potential partners would likely only be able to join the Global Combat Air Program after the GCAP International Government Organization (GIGO) and the Edgewing joint venture sign their first international contract, which is expected by the end of this year. GIGO, whose headquarters opened Monday in the English town of Reading, was set up by the three governments last year to manage the project, while Edgewing — which brings together Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. (JAIEC) — was launched last month and will be responsible for the fighter's design and development. 'There is no preclusion in having Saudi Arabia join the program, but we first have to define certain criteria and clarify all the points,' one source said after the defense ministers of the GCAP partner countries held a virtual meeting on the program Monday. Riyadh has reportedly been encouraged to first gain the industrial know-how and experience it needs by procuring Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and setting up assembly lines for the aircraft before entering the sixth-generation GCAP program. Several other countries have also been reported to be interested in joining the project, with the source saying that these include 'a couple of other European countries' as well as another nation in the Middle East and one other in Asia. The exact role or contribution that Saudi Arabia or any other potential future partner could make, if admitted, is still uncertain. What is clear is that any expansion would require unanimous consent by GCAP countries. The future sixth-generation aircraft, which marks the first time that Japan is cooperating with countries other than the United States to meet a major defense requirement, is intended to replace aging Air Self-Defense Force F-2 jets, as well as British and Italian Eurofighters. The first units are expected to enter service by 2035. With the aircraft's conceptual design stage complete, the project is now set to advance to the detailed design and development phases, with a first flight of a demonstrator aircraft expected within two to three years. The GCAP members appear to be generally satisfied with the progress made so far, but sources say the parties involved appear to still be ironing out differences over access to intellectual property and reluctance to fully share technologies. The first signs of this became public in April, when Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto accused London of not fully sharing technologies with Rome and Tokyo in an interview with Reuters in April. No details have emerged about the type of technologies the British are reportedly holding back, but The Japan Times understands these issues are persisting and could impact the project going forward unless resolved in a timely manner. Just how much this will affect the envisaged 2035 entry-into-service date of the new supersonic aircraft is unclear.
Bloomberg
26-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
White House Math on Tax Bill Is Pure Imagination
Every researcher knows that the quality of one's work depends on the quality of the inputs. Start with bad data or assumptions and the result is meaningless. Take the White House's analysis of the ' One Big Beautiful Bill Act ' winding its way through Congress; it's pure 'GIGO' — garbage in, garbage out. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's estimates say the bill would add $2.42 trillion to US budget deficits over the next decade. Not only that, but CBO projects that debt-to-gross domestic product will reach 117% in 2034 under current law, up from about 97% recently. Not so, says the White House. In its own analysis released this week, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates the bill would shrink deficits by $8.53 trillion to $11.1 trillion, and lower debt-to-GDP to 94%.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Next-gen GCAP warplane faces time pressure amid American F-47 plans
ROME — The under-development GCAP fighter and the newly launched American F-47 can be cogs in an integrated allied system of fighters and not competitors, a European official has said. 'The F-47 will be principally a U.S. fighter and not a competitor to the GCAP,' said Italian Air Force Gen. Giandomenico Taricco, who is working on the Anglo-Japanese-Italian GCAP program. 'What we want is for the GCAP to be interoperable with the F-47, to make them two elements in an integrated system,' said Taricco, who is commercial and corporate director at GIGO, the intergovernmental agency running the sixth-generation GCAP program. The U.S. signaled its arrival in the sixth-generation market in March when President Donald Trump said Boeing would develop the F-47 which could be fielded by the end of the decade. That would give it a head start on the GCAP plane, which is not expected to be delivered until 2035. Trump reportedly discussed the F-47 with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last month. '(Trump) said the United States has such great fighter jets and asked Ishiba if he would like to take a look at them,' wrote Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, quoting unnamed sources. Japan joined GCAP to be able to co-own the technology on board the plane, something it would be less able to do with an equivalent U.S. jet. But there are growing reports Japan is unhappy with the time needed to develop the GCAP as neighbor China threatens its airspace with advanced fighters such as the planned sixth generation J-50. Last month Reuters reported Japan was dubious GCAP would achieve its planned 2035 in-service date and was considering ordering more F-35s as a gap filler. Taricco told Defense News that Italy and the U.K. shared Japan's sense of urgency about keeping GCAP on schedule and even shortening the schedule. 'The Japanese are extremely motivated to accelerate the program and rightly so, as are we,' he said. 'We all share the urgency and everyone is putting pressure on,' he added. Taricco, who has formerly worked on Italian Air Force acquisitions including U.S. Gulfstream sensor jets, is one of two directors at the U.K.-based GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO) which teams the three government customers on the program. He is joined by program and technical director Phil Brooker, a British former air vice-marshal. They both report to Japanese chief executive Oka Masami, who was appointed for three years when the agency was stood up last year. At the same time, an industrial joint venture was announced, teaming BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and Japan's JAIEC which is jointly funded by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. Taricco said the joint venture would open for business 'within weeks' and be based in the same building as GIGO at Green Park in Reading, close to London. 'The combined staff of the joint venture and GIGO there will be around 1,000 within 12-15 months,' he said. Taricco said a first international contract will be signed by GIGO with the joint venture by the end of 2025 while GIGO will then likely sign a design and development contract with the joint venture 'by the end of 2026 or the start of 2027.' Planners envisage the fighter operating alongside drones, although work on unmanned platforms remains a national prerogative and no schedule has been set for including unmanned platforms in the work undertaken by the joint venture, Taricco said. He said that export was a 'fundamental part of the cooperation program,' adding that talks to bring in new partners such as Saudi Arabia are being handled at national government level. 'At the moment, GIGO does not have direct contacts with possible partners,' said Taricco.
Asahi Shimbun
03-05-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Saudi Arabia to help develop ‘next generation' stealth fighter
An artist's rendition of the next-generation fighter jet that Japan, Britain and Italy have been developing. (Provided by BAE Systems) Japan, Britain and Italy are almost ready to bring Saud Arabia on board in the development of a next-generation fighter aircraft, Japanese government officials told The Asahi Shimbun on May 2. The move is part of a multinational initiative dubbed the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) to jointly develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter. Saudi Arabia would be a 'partner country' in the project. Saudi Arabia has been seeking formal participation under the GIGO treaty, an intergovernmental organization that manages the development of fighter jets. The three countries decided at the end of 2022 to jointly develop the next generation fighter aircraft. Soon afterward, Saudi Arabia said it wanted in. Both Britain and Italy are eager to tap Saudi Arabia's oil-based financial resources, but Japan is concerned about development delays if another negotiating partner is added, as well as maintaining security secrecy, citing arms transactions involving Saudi Arabia, China and Russia. In talks held in mid-April, Riyadh did not insist on early participation as a formal member. As Tokyo does not expect Saudi Arabia to be directly involved in project development, it wants to limit Riyadh's cooperation to financial and other aspects. Even so, Japan, along with Britain and Italy, are working toward formal participation by Saudi Arabia under the treaty, but on condition that Saudi Arabia demonstrates beefed up technical capabilities and information security measures. (This article was written by Mizuki Sato and Taro Ono)
