The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a contract extension worth £656 million to BAE Systems to progress the concepting and technology of the next generation combat aircraft, known as Tempest in the UK.
The new funding will build on the ground-breaking science, research and engineering already completed under the first phase of the contract delivered by UK Tempest partners BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, MBDA UK and Rolls-Royce.
The UK Tempest partners, working in close collaboration with the MoD, will now progress the maturity of more than 60 cutting-edge technology demonstrations, digital concepts and new technologies. These are critical to the UK’s sovereign defence capability and will help shape the final requirements – together with the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partners in Japan and Italy – for the combat air platform, due to enter service with the Royal Air Force by 2035.
The aircraft is designed to be an innovative stealth fighter with supersonic capability and equipped with cutting-edge technologies, including state-of-the-art sensing and protection capabilities. This will make the aircraft one of the world’s most advanced, interoperable, adaptable and connected fighter jets in service, delivering battle-winning next generation weapons to protect the UK and its allies.
GCAP builds on the substantial progress already made in the UK by BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, MBDA UK, Rolls-Royce and the UK MoD who have been working in partnership since 2018 to research, evaluate and develop a host of next generation future combat air systems capabilities.
The programme will span many decades, creating thousands of jobs and economic value to the UK, Italy and Japan while sustaining critical sovereign skills for the three nations. The programme is inspiring current and future generations to play their part in this vital international endeavour. There are already more than 2,800 people working at the UK partners and wider industry, with almost 600 organisations on contract, including SMEs and academic institutions.
Across UK industry, work on this programme is driving investment in new digital technologies, tools and techniques, including model-based systems engineering with open architectures, digital twins and virtual environments. This will ensure the next generation combat aircraft will be delivered more rapidly and more cost-effectively than previous combat air programmes.
Release and image BAE System
