Japan shuns U.S. to sign next-gen fighter plan with U.K., Italy

TOKYO, Dec 09 (Nikkei) - Japan, the U.K. and Italy have agreed to jointly develop next-generation fighter aircraft by 2035, the three countries announced on Friday, a collaborative effort that reflects the need to respond together to growing geopolitical threats from the likes of China and Russia.

The three nations will bring together their technologies to develop a common airframe and coproduce it. Tokyo is in the process of relaxing rules for arms exports and hopes to eventually tap the connections that the U.K. and Italy have to sell the aircraft to other countries.

The U.K. and Italy will merge their existing plans for the sixth-generation fighter Tempest with Japan's plans to develop a successor to the F-2 fighter. This is the first time in the post-World War II era that Japan is developing a major defense platform with countries other than the U.S.

According to the joint leaders' statement, the countries will launch the Global Combat Air Program, which they describe as "an ambitious endeavor" to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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