Summary
- The future of the Tempest fighter jet could be at risk due to lack of an immediate counter to Russia.
- Strategic Defense Review to assess defense reform for effective allocation of funds.
- The Tempest fighter jet would replace the older-generation Eurofighter Typhoons.
The future of the British-led multi-billion dollar Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), aimed at building the country’s sixth-generation fighter jet, could be uncertain. Sky News first reported that the UK’s future fighter jet, the Tempest, could be at risk in the country’s Strategic Defense Review (SDR).
Critical for defense, but too delayed to counter the Russia threat?
A recently elected UK government has initiated the Strategic Defense Review (SDR) to assess the roles, capabilities, and reforms needed for UK’s defense “to address the challenges, threats, and opportunities of the twenty-first century.” As part of the defense review, the UK Labour Party will take a practical approach to international threats, including Russia, revitalize the armed forces, and put an end to wasteful acquisitions.
Photo: Royal Air Force (RAF)
According to the report, the GCAP project, developed in collaboration with Italy and Japan, could be at risk if the review concludes that allocating limited funds to a project that will only produce new aircraft in the mid-2030s is not the most effective way to address the more immediate threat of war with Russia.
Despite the previous government strongly supporting the project, armed forces minister Luke Pollard has not guaranteed the future of the new stealth fighter jet venture. Answering questions at an annual conference in London on air and space power on July 18, 2024, Pollard said:
“The GCAP program is a really important program for us. We need cutting-edge capabilities. We need to make sure that when we are procuring systems, high-end systems…that we do it in the most cost-effective way, and that is by working with our partners.”
However, the minister added that it was not suitable for him to prejudge what might happen in the defense review. The minister’s remarks came a day after a senior research fellow at the UK security think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, Justin Bronk, said that a direct war with Russia could emerge as soon as 2028.
More about the GCAP program
The Tempest is a sixth-generation fighter jet under development to fulfill the future needs of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and replace the aging Eurofighter Typhoon jets. This marks the first instance of the UK developing a new fast aircraft incorporating 21st-century technology.
Photo: Royal Air Force (RAF)
The program, launched in 2018, is led by the UK’s giant BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, and missile producer MBDA. Tempest will be a stealth fighter expected to utilize a modular design that allows for more straightforward maintenance and upgrades and the ability to transform the plane for specialized roles quickly.
In 2022, the UK government announced that the Tempest flying demonstrator would be revealed within the next five years at BAE Systems’ facility near Preston in northern England.
Related
Next-Generation Fighter: A Brief Guide To The Proposed BAE Systems Tempest
Part of the multinational Global Combat Air Programme, The Tempest is BAE Systems’ answer to the need for sixth-generation fighter jets.