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The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force is surging ahead with its plan to introduce the Tempest, an advanced sixth-generation fighter jet.
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As a part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, with an aspirational timeline to have it operational by 2035.
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Designed to supersede the venerable Typhoon Eurofighter, the Tempest promises a panoply of cutting-edge features.
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Such as the ability to operate unmanned, the capability to control drone swarms, and modular weapons bays potentially equipped with hypersonic and laser weaponry.
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The Tempest’s development is a cornerstone in Britain’s broader military modernization push, a campaign that has seen significant investments like the acquisition of new aircraft carriers.
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Yet, amidst grand plans for a technological leap forward, the project faces daunting obstacles.
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The British military’s struggle with underfunding, manpower shortages, and operational hurdles casts a shadow over the Tempest’s future.
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To offset these challenges, the UK has joined hands with Italy and Japan to form the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), a trilateral effort sharing the financial and technical burdens of developing a state-of-the-art combat aircraft.
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“We had sufficient confidence that there was an alignment of both UK and Japanese requirements and potential concept solutions, to know whether we could do a collaborative program together,” said Richard Berthon, Director Future Combat Air at the UK Ministry of Defence.
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GCAP aims to deliver a sixth-generation fighter by 2035 that will eventually take the place of not only the UK and Italian Eurofighter Typhoons but also Japan’s Mitsubishi F-2 jets.
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As one UK lawmaker defined it in 2019, “The term Future Combat Air System could refer to a number of international air projects or systems being developed, including the UK programme to replace Typhoon’s capabilities from 2040 onwards.”
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While the collaboration with Italy and Japan somewhat mirrors the international cooperation seen in America’s F-35 Lightning II project, the GCAP has yet to match the breadth of participation seen in the F-35 program.
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With the Tempest program currently limited to two partners besides the UK, attracting additional international allies will be crucial to securing the funding necessary for the program’s success.
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In parallel, Europe is a theater of another sixth-generation fighter initiative, with France, Germany, and Spain pursuing their own FCAS program—distinct from the UK’s, despite the shared name.
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This alternative European effort, dubbed Système de combat aérien du futur (SCAF), is working towards a different set of requirements, with a fully operational new fighter jet expected by 2040.
Relevant articles:
– Tempest: The 6th Generation Fighter That May Never Fly, The National Interest
– FCAS? SCAF? Tempest? Explaining Europe’s sixth, Breaking Defense