Key Points and Summary – UK-Italy-Japan’s Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is accelerating, with Tempest prioritizing deep range and a large internal payload—targeting roughly twice the F-35’s stealth-carried weapons.
-Officials tout AI-enabled processing, enhanced stealth, loyal-wingman teaming, and sensors to spot low-observable threats.
Tempest Fighter from BAE Systems.
-The concept tracks sixth-gen trends (e.g., NGAD/F-47 radius 1,000 nm) while replacing Eurofighter Typhoon and Japan’s F-2.
-Meanwhile, Franco-German friction over FCAS keeps Berlin’s options open; a year-end decision looms.
-If Germany pivots, Tempest could become Europe’s consensus jet.
-For now, GCAP’s new Reading HQ signals momentum, but politics and budgets will decide how fast “chocks away” really is.
Team Tempest Fighter Moves Forward
BERLIN, GERMANY – Although the United Kingdom appears ready to begin making progress on its next-generation fighter, the final lineup of countries involved in Europe’s various next-generation fighter projects is still taking shape.
The Global Combat Air Program, the tripartite fighter jet initiative involving the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan, is making forward progress despite headwinds with other European fighter projects. First and foremost, the Tempest—the name given to the new fighter aircraft GCAP hopes to build—will place a premium on both range and payload.
The Tempest would replace the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon in service with the British and Italian air forces, as well as Mitsubishi’s F-2.
Hopes for the Tempest’s range and payload capacity echo the design considerations of other, parallel initiatives: namely, the US Air Force’s sixth-generation F-47 air superiority fighter, whose range is in excess of 1,000 nautical miles, and what officials have previously hinted at for the yet-to-be finalized F/A-XX fighter for the US Navy.
Boeing NGAD F/A-XX Fighter Rendering. Image Credit: Boeing.
F/A-XX Handout Photo from Northrop Grumman.
Cleared for Take-off
The opening of a new Global Combat Air Programme headquarters in Reading, West of London, revealed the rapid pace of the GCAP program earlier this summer. At a ceremony marking the opening of the facility, then-Minister for Defence Procurement Maria Eagle touted the base’s future, saying that the site would be a “centre of excellence, uniting top talent from our three governments and industries that pioneer advancements in future air technology.”
The aircraft would be “powered by advanced data processing and AI,” Eagle said, adding that the jet would reflect the latest in “enhanced stealth for improved survivability.”
Though the Tempest component of GCAP is still a fledgling initiative, the general contours of what the program hopes to achieve are becoming clearer. One of the project’s top priorities is to offer a greater range and payload capacity than the F-35 family of stealth fighters.
Eyes on Range, Payload
Speaking on the Future Horizons podcast covering the Tempest program collaboration with friends and allies, one captain in the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence shed a bit of light on the next-generation fighter.
“We’re building an aircraft that is going to have an awful lot of range,” the officer, named only as Group Captain Bill, said during the podcast episode, “but at the top of our list is the payload.”
“Payload is what we’re all about,” Group Captain Bill underlined. “In fact, in pure capability terms, I don’t care how I get [the payload] there. It could be in the back of an A400, from a submarine, or from space. It just so happens that our analysis tells us the best way to get that payload there right now is in a fast jet. But the payload, now you’d expect weapons to be in there. So that’s obvious, and boy, will we have weapons.”
He went on to explain that the engineers behind the project would like to see Tempest have roughly twice the payload capacity as the F-35. Given the need for both aircraft to preserve their stealth profiles by carrying weapons and fuel internally, this would place the Tempest’s payload capacity at around 10,000 pounds, compared to the F-35A’s more modest 5,000-pound internal payload limit.
Rival Programs, Franco-German Bickering
Although Paris and Berlin have their own next-generation fighter in development, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), that initiative has recently been marred by infighting between the two perennial rivals. Germany has reportedly considered a bid to join the Global Combat Air Programme in lieu of a solution with its French counterparts.
While many European countries have voiced concern about the American-led F-35 stealth fighter project, with some joining other European-led programs like GCAP, the acrimonious French-German relationship threatens the future of their Future Combat Air System program, which counts Spain among its members. The friction between the two European partners is not a new phenomenon.
F-35 Stealth Fighter in Red. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
Both countries had nominally agreed to collaborate on the Main Ground Combat System, a next-generation main battle tank that would replace Germany’s Leopard 2s and France’s Leclerc tanks. Still, the project has been stalled for years, with both parties seemingly at loggerheads on how to move forward. But Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as the current American administration’s mercurial posture toward Europe, provided fresh impetus for those efforts.
Tempest: What Happens Now to This 6th Generation Fighter?
Just weeks ago, Berlin signaled its intent to decide on the FCAS project by the end of this year, though no date has been set for a trilateral meeting on the fighter jet project.
Berlin has accused the French of what it sees as strong-arming to secure project leadership. Domestic political turmoil in France has left little time available for the FCAS project, delaying ministerial meetings between the French and Germans on the fighter.
“We stick with the plan to take a decision by the end of the year, no matter what this decision will look like,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters, clarifying that he had spoken about the project with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. But “if and when there will be a (trilateral) meeting, I cannot say,” Pistorius said.
Could the GCAP door to the Tempest program be ajar enough for the Germans to join? Though possible, that remains to be seen.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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