Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the Global Combat Air Programme to make an announcement of new future generation combat aircraft.

On 9 December 2022, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom announced that we have reached an agreement to launch the Global Combat Air Programme. This will merge our national programmes with the ambition to jointly develop a new next-generation fighter aircraft, due to enter service from 2035.

The Global Combat Air Programme’s trilateral partners are currently working to establish the core platform concept and set up the structures needed to deliver this massive defence project, ready to launch the development phase in 2025. Future announcements will be made as the programme progresses and as agreed by our trilateral partners.