LONDON—The new UK government views the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) as “important,” but is making no commitments pending the release of the upcoming strategic defense review in 2025, Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said July 18.
“It’s not right for me to prejudge what might happen in the defense review,” Pollard said at the Global Air and Space Chiefs Conference here in London when asked about the Labour government’s position on GCAP.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who took office on July 5, launched the review 12 days later, with a goal to increase investments in personnel, bolster homeland security and maintain the UK’s prominent role in NATO. The defense ministry will complete the review in the first half of 2025.
In his prepared remarks, Pollard said the Labour government is committed to investing in new cyber capabilities, modernizing the nuclear deterrent and improving housing and quality of life for military troops and their families.
But the UK’s role in the trilateral GCAP program with Italy and Japan went unmentioned until the question-and-answer session.
The UK government wants to conduct an unbiased review by a small team of experts, Pollard said.
“It should not be about ministers saying you can do a review, but by the way I’m going to tell you in speeches [to keep] this platform or that platform or this platform along the way,” Pollard said.
When UK defense officials meet with Japanese and Italian partners next week, they will emphasize their view of the importance of the GCAP program, Pollard said.
In a merger of the UK and Italy’s Tempest and Japan’s F-X efforts, the three governments agreed in December 2022 to jointly develop a new fighter. The current schedule calls for formal development to start next year, followed by a demonstrator first flight in 2027 and entry into service in 2035.
The project currently involves a multi-national industry team, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, MBDA UK, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI and Mitsubishi Electric.
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