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By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
A multibillion-pound programme to build the UK’s future flagship fighter jet in partnership with Japan and Italy could be at risk in a sweeping review of defence.
Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, called the project “really important” but said it would not be right for him to prejudice the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) by setting out in a speech which pieces of military kit are required to fight future wars.
It left open the possibility that the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) – a vital piece of work for British defence industry giant BAE Systems – could be vulnerable should the review decide that committing limited funds to a project that will only deliver new aircraft in the next decade is not the best way to deter a more immediate threat of war with Russia.
At the same time, though, the architects of the review will need to balance countering current threats against the importance of investing in sovereign aircraft manufacturing skills as well as the economic benefits of the GCAP programme, which already supports thousands of jobs.
The lack of a guarantee by the minister that the future of the UK-Japan-Italy warplane venture is secure came despite the project being strongly endorsed in the previous government’s “refreshed” defence review, which was published only last year.
The UK’s planned GCAP fast jet – known as Tempest – is set to be a sixth-generation stealth aircraft, equipped with advanced weapons and radars, with the ability to fly at supersonic speeds in a step up from the F-35 warplane.
