UK pumps £708 million into its future fighter jet

offbeat

Tempest cash lands alongside hypersonic target contract and BAE's 'loyal wingman' drone reveal

Britain has found £708 million ($946m) to fund the development of advanced technologies for the Royal Air Force’s next-gen fighter, codenamed Tempest.

Announced to coincide with the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, southwest of London, the news was accompanied by a £20 million ($27m) contract for a hypersonic target used to test air defenses and a “loyal wingman” drone prototype from BAE Systems.

The £708m extends an existing contract with BAE Systems to develop the UK’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), part of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) - a tri-partite effort between the UK, Italy and Japan. Britain’s codename for the resulting aircraft is Tempest, as previously disclosed.

According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the technologies covered by the latest contract include digital engineering capabilities, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing support, the latter involving augmented reality, additive manufacturing, and use of robotics.

The award follows the recently published Defence Investment Plan, in which the government promised to invest £8.6 billion ($11.5bn) into GCAP over the next four years, on top of more than £5 billion ($6.7bn) already spent on the program.

“This investment in advanced combat air technology for the UK Armed Forces will strengthen our defence and deterrence and shows our clear commitment to backing British workers with our defence investment, creating jobs and supporting communities across the UK,” said newly appointed Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting.

The aircraft is expected to enter service in 2035, with a flying demonstrator scheduled to take to the air next year.

Canada this week announced it will join the GCAP program as an Observer, giving it in-depth information of the aircraft and its capabilities, perhaps hinting that the Canucks are weighing a future purchase. 

At Farnborough, BAE also showed off its prototype for an uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), otherwise known as a “loyal wingman” drone, to accompany crewed fighter jets.

Named Brontanax - said to be ancient Greek for “Thunder King” - the drone is described as similar in size to one of the RAF’s Hawk trainer jets (or the T-45 Goshawk for US readers). It's intended to provide electronic warfare and precision strike capability against airborne and ground targets, and BAE expects it to enter service before the end of the decade.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the RAF will buy it. Streeting said the UK is separately investing £300 million ($402m) in a “Storm Fighter” program to develop an autonomous combat aircraft, adding that Brontanax “shows the depth of industrial capability we have here in Britain to help deliver our ambition to become Europe’s first sixth generation air force.”

The MoD has also awarded a £20 million ($27m) contract to Lockheed Martin UK for Project Bowline, a hypersonic target intended to support development and testing of missile defence systems against such threats. Hypersonic weapons can fly at more than five times the speed of sound, making them difficult for current missile defenses to intercept.

A live flight demonstration is planned for 2027 at the MoD’s Hebrides test firing range.

The government claims that more than 15 smaller UK firms will benefit from the program by joining the supply chain for the project.

Project Bowline is part of the AUKUS defense partnership between the UK, US and Australia. The three are working together to accelerate hypersonic and counter‑hypersonic technologies, the MoD says.®