UK SIGNS DEAL WITH JAPAN AND ITALY TO BUILD NEXT-GENERATION FIGHTER JETS Britain to build new Stealth Jet Fighter
The UK has signed an international treaty with Japan and Italy to build the next generation of stealth fighter Jets here in the UK.
The deal will see the headquarters for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the defence partnership between the three nations, based in Britain.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the collaborative international effort to build military planes with supersonic capability and cutting-edge technology a year ago.
Called Tempest in the UK, the ambition is for them to take to the skies by 2035 and serve as a successor to the RAF Typhoon.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the signing of the treaty in Tokyo on Thursday marked a “key stage” in the development of the aircraft.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was in the Japanese capital to sign the document alongside his Italian and Japanese counterparts, Guido Crosetto and Minoru Kihara.
He said: “Our world-leading combat aircraft programme aims to be crucial to global security and we continue to make hugely positive progress toward delivery of the new jets to our respective air forces in 2035.
