New UK fighter jet could be mothballed in defense review | UK News

A multibillion-pound program to build the UK’s future flagship fighter plane, in partnership with Japan and Italy, could be at risk in a comprehensive defense review.

Luke Pollard, the Armed Forces Minister, called the project “really important” but said it would not be right for it to undermine the outcome of the Strategic Defense Review (SDR), setting out in a speech which pieces of military kit are needed to fight in future wars.

It left open the possibility that the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) – vital work for British defense industry giant BAE Systems – could be left vulnerable if the review decides that allocating 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, however, the architects of the review will have to balance combating current threats with the importance of investing in sovereign aircraft manufacturing capabilities, as well as the economic benefits of the GCAP program, which already supports thousands of jobs.

The minister’s lack of assurance that the future of the UK-Japan-Italy warplane venture is secure occurred despite the project being strongly endorsed in the previous government’s “revamped” defense review, which was published just last year.

The UK’s planned GCAP fast jet – known as the Tempest – will be a sixth-generation stealth aircraft, equipped with advanced weapons and radars, with the ability to fly at supersonic speeds, a step up from the F-35 warplane.

A new model is needed to replace the RAF’s fleet of Typhoon jets – a crucial part of the UK’s defenses against threats posed by Russia and Iran and, potentially, China.

“The GCAP program is a really important program for us,” Pollard said, answering questions at an annual London air and space power conference on Thursday.

He said John Healey, the Defense Secretary, would meet his Japanese and Italian counterparts next week “to underline this”.

But the minister added: “It is not right for me to prejudge what might happen in the defense review.”

He appeared to be in favor of programs like GCAP, which are being developed in partnership with allies.

“We need cutting-edge capabilities,” Pollard said. “We need to make sure that when we’re procuring systems, high-quality systems…we do it in the most cost-effective way and that’s by working with our partners.”

However, the minister said the defense review aims to “make these decisions differently”.

He added: “It shouldn’t be a question of ministers saying, ‘You could do a review, but by the way, I’m going to be speaking in speeches on this platform, that platform and this platform’.”

The comments came a day after Professor Justin Bronk, a leading expert on the Royal Air Force, raised questions about the wisdom of extremely expensive and time-consuming acquisition programs like GCAP when direct war with Russia could erupt in 2028.

He also warned that Ukraine is on track to lose against Moscow unless its allies can supply more weapons and ammunition.

“We need to change the situation in Ukraine, but we also have to get our own defenses in order over the next two or three years,” Bronk said at the two-day Air and Space Chiefs of Staff Conference.

He advised investing in the combat strength of existing warplanes and weapons.

“Given that you have two or three years, and you have to be ready by that point – if I sound a little alarmed it’s because I am – stop looking at large-scale purchasing programs over the next while,” said Bronk, a senior research employee at the Royal United Services Institute, said.

“If you have aircraft on order now, great, keep them going, but other than that you don’t have time to take new orders.

“Buy ammunition, buy spares, increase the size of your maintenance contracts for your major fleets.”

Turning specifically to the UK’s next generation of warplanes, he said GCAP would only make sense if investing in Britain’s sovereign capability and defense industry was the priority, rather than ensuring the UK is ready for fight a war.

“My main hierarchy of needs in terms of where I would put resources… would be that GCAP would be completely impossible if there was a war in Europe in the next five years because the global economy will completely tank, we will have to divert everything to fighting that war and by the way, GCAP will also be impossible if the US and the Chinese go to war.”

Read more:
D-Day parachute jump reduced due to lack of RAF aircraft
UK is “increasingly vulnerable” to the threat of missile and drone attacks

Bronk highlighted how similar questions are being raised in the United States about the future of Washington’s equivalent next-generation combat aircraft program, known as Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD).

“If the U.S. thinks that NGAD is perhaps unsupportable in the U.S. Air Force program, then I think we probably need to look very carefully at how we do this in Europe.”

A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said: “GCAP is an important program and positive progress continues with our partners, Japan and Italy… In addition to cutting-edge military technology, the program is delivering significant economic benefits across the United Kingdom.

“The Strategic Defense Review will be comprehensive, looking at the threats Britain faces and the capabilities we need to meet them.”

A spokesperson for BAE Systems said: “Tempest and the Global Air Combat Program will preserve critical sovereign air combat capability and enable the UK to maintain control over its own security, support important international relationships and confront future threats by contributing at the same time for economic growth and prosperity.” .

“The program is estimated to contribute £37 billion to the UK economy before significant additional export potential over the life of the programme, providing a real opportunity for national growth.”