Gcap, all about the treaty between Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan
The Defense Ministers of Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan have signed an international treaty for the establishment of the International Governmental Organization of the Gcap, program for the development of the sixth generation fighter
The development and construction of the fighter of the future begins with the signing between Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan of the Treaty for the establishment of the International Governmental Organization of the Gcap (GIGO).
Today 14 December in Tokyo the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, together with his counterparts from Japan and the United Kingdom, Minoru Kihara and Grant Shapps, signed the agreement on the Global Combat Air Program (Gcap), a project for the development of a sixth generation combat by 2035.
Predictions are therefore confirmed according to which the headquarters of the international government organization Gcap will be in the United Kingdom , which will work on the program for the construction of the sixth generation fighter promoted by Rome, London and Tokyo.
The signing of the contract would arrive exactly one year later the signing of the agreement in December 2022 with which the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan agreed to unify their respective projects for the development of fifth generation combat aircraft. The agreement effectively combined the Tempest project – a British-led project in which our country participates to replace the Typhoon fighters – with the Japanese FX program in an undertaking called the Global Combat Air Program (Gcap), relating to the development of a of next-generation systems and multi-domain operations. In particular, Tokyo intends to develop a successor for its 90 F-2 fighter jets, while London and Rome intend to replace around 240 Eurofighter jets in total.
Today the three ministers agreed that the next activities to define the implementation agreements of the future organization "will take place in a spirit of fair partnership", Defense informs.
The aim of the program is not only to produce a sixth generation fighter by 2035, but also to further enhance the defense industrial base of each of the three countries.
All the details.
WHAT DOES THE TREATY BETWEEN ITALY, JAPAN AND THE UNITED KINGDOM ON GCAP PROVIDE
The three ministers agreed that the headquarters of Gigo and the corresponding joint business structure will be located in the United Kingdom and, in order to ensure and foster an effective and well-balanced partnership between the three countries, the first Director General of the Gcap Agency will be of Japanese nationality, while the first managing director of the industrial Joint Venture will be of Italian nationality.
THE CONSORTIUM FORMED BY LEONARDO, MHI AND BAE SYSTEMS
The national leaders of the Gcap defense industry – the Italian Leonardo, the British BAE Systems and the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – warmly welcomed the signing of the Convention on the establishment of the “Gcap International Government Organization (Gigo)” by the respective governments, announced a press release from the company headed by Roberto Cingolani.
“It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome the announcement made today by our governments and we are proud to be part of the Gcap together with our partners” commented Guglielmo Maviglia, Gcap program director for Leonardo adding that this program, “which will see the development of a innovative technological platform, is outlining a new path for industrial collaboration on an international scale. Thanks to its ambition, the program will protect and increase the competitiveness of our industries at an international level for the benefit of the entire system”.
Under the supervision of a coordinating body, the consortium formed by the Italian Leonardo, the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the British BAE Systems, aims to complete the design work by 2027.
Once the location issue is resolved, the programme's three main industrial partners are expected to work out their division of labor next year, the Financial Times reports.
Ministers expressed satisfaction with the progress made by industrial partners in establishing the organizational structure that will constitute the industrial interface of the International Governmental Organization Gcap (Gigo).
RESOURCE QUESTION
Furthermore, the three Defense Ministers confirmed today that the distribution of work will be "proportionate to the contribution of each country with financial and technical means, in the spirit of an equal partnership".
As the FT recalls, “the UK government allocated just over £2 billion for the original Tempest program alone, while industrial partners invested around £800 million. The Japanese Ministry of Defense is seeking to set aside 72.6 billion yen ($513 million) for the GCAP program for the 2024-25 fiscal year.” The money will finance the “conception and evaluation phase”.
With the new DPP 2023-2025 , Italian funds for the Gcap-Tempest amount to 5 billion. Specifically, the government has allocated 271.2 million euros for 2023, 99 million in 2024 and 101 million in 2025, while the total requirement until 2037 is equal to 7.7 billion.
PRIME ROLE FOR OUR COUNTRY IN THE PROGRAM
“The signing of the treaty – claims the ministry – testifies to the significant progress made as part of an initiative destined to revolutionize the international defense sector through a new model of collaboration which sees industries working jointly to develop technologies and capabilities together impossible to obtain individually. Through the Gcap, Italy will have a first-rate role in the Combat Air sector, guaranteeing itself: operational advantage to face the challenges posed by new scenarios through the development of a System of Systems, a combination of highly connected piloted and unmanned aircraft with a variable number of other assets to increase their capabilities; technological and industrial sovereignty. The joint conception, design and production of the Gcap will ensure that Italy maintains the engineering capabilities to design and develop new generation air combat systems and to maintain an adequate level of national sovereignty; prosperity".
LED IN ITALY BY LEONARDO, IN COLLABORATION WITH MBDA, ELETTRONICA AND AVIAERO
At an industrial level, in Italy, the program is led by Leonardo It, which makes use of the collaboration of Mbda Italia, Elettronica and Avio Aero, with the aim of establishing a cooperation process which will involve, in addition to the leading companies in the sector, small and medium-sized enterprises, research centers and universities, thus forming a network of skills capable of bringing together national excellences active in both the industrial and academic fields. The Gcap will create innovative technologies with significant implications in terms of employment, skills and know-how.
MINISTER CROSETTO'S SATISFACTION WITH THE GCAP TREATY
“Being here today represents for Italy, and I think for all of us, a very important milestone for the Gcap program, and at the same time a very strong message because our partnership is a message for the rest of the world,” said Crosetto all The start of the trilateral meeting with the Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and the British representative Grant Shapps.
“We live in a very complex era which is characterized by the presence of aggressive actors on the international stage – continued the Minister of Defense -. A situation of growing instability, competition between states and rapid technological changes. And it has therefore become vitally important to stay one step ahead of the threats that grow every day. Our three nations have long-established relations, based on the same values of democracy and freedom, respect for human rights and the rule of law. Through the Gcap we could develop our relationships even further and strengthen them in the defense field."
With today's step, the defense leaders of Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom have thus confirmed their strong commitment to deepening trilateral cooperation on the common objectives of the Gcap and to guaranteeing its constant success.
THE NEXT STEPS
Now each country's parliaments must ratify the agreement. The joint development phase of the GCAP program will begin in 2025 with the goal of seeing fighter aircraft in the air by 2035.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/trattato-italia-regno-unito-giappone-gcap/ on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:34:53 +0000.