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Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) display at the Farnborough Airshow.
FARNBOROUGH, England–Edgewing, the trinational consortium created to be the prime contractor for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), has begun work to establish global sites in each of the three countries where the new fighter will be assembled.
Reading, England-based Edgewing is preparing to build new facilities at Warton, England; Turin, Italy; and Nagoya, Japan, to support development and production of the new combat aircraft that will eventually go on to replace the Eurofighters flown by Italy and the UK, and the Mitsubishi F-2s flown by Japan.
All three sites are where the joint venture partners, BAE Systems, Leonardo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have traditionally built combat aircraft.
“We are completing the ramp-up of the company, and since setting up the headquarters we are now delivering the global sites . . . creating a physical infrastructure with thousands of engineers,” Marco Zoff, Edgewing’s chief executive, told reporters on the opening day of the Farnborough Airshow, where the company is debuting after having formed just over a year ago.
Work also is ongoing to finalize the completion of a new secret communications network that will link the three countries and enable the digital development of the aircraft, he said.
These three global sites will allow the company to build parts for the aircraft in all three countries, Zoff said, “but the exact footprint for the final assembly line is something we have to decide in the next few months.”
Earlier this month Edgewing was awarded a £4.6 billion ($6.2 billion), 18-month contract to push forward the development of the aircraft and complete the concept and assessment phase. That will be followed by the detailed design phase, which is expected to be another multi-billion-pound contract.
According to Zoff, the completion of the concept and assessment phase will give the company “a detailed and exact figure” for the cost of the wider program, he said. He said the company was being competitive because the construct established for development meant that the partners were “not duplicating effort or activities.”
Neither Zoff nor Masumi Oka, the chief executive of the GCAP Agency established by international treaty to represent the three governments on the program, would comment on the announcement expected on July 20, which will see Canada become the first observer to the GCAP program. Zoff did say that if the partner nations decided to onboard some partners, “It would be a net positive by definition.”
Meanwhile, the trinational industry team developing the GCAP power and propulsion system is working to finalize approvals for the design of the demonstrator engine.
Italy’s Avio Aero, Japan’s IHI Corporation and Rolls-Royce have completed a series of design reviews in support of the development of the engine demonstrator, which will be used to gather critical data to begin shaping the power and propulsion system for GCAP.
Together, the three companies said they had completed 100 sub-scale component tests to support the development of the demonstrator, which will be based at Rolls-Royce’s facilities in Bristol, England.
As well as derisking engine development, the demonstrator also will mature new technology and the engine’s integrated architecture. It will also help the companies “test and refine processes, tools and ways of working,” helping to shorten the design and development cycle for GCAP.
“We aren’t just generating thrust, we are creating a flying power station capable of managing the unprecedented electrical and thermal loads required by next-generation sensors and weapon systems,” said Phil Townley, Rolls-Royce’s director of Future Programs.
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