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UK defence champion BAE Systems is exploring opportunities to deepen collaboration with Japanese defence groups, including potential joint development of drones to fly alongside a next-generation fighter jet the two nations are building with Italy.
Rob Merryweather, group technology director, revealed the steps by the UK’s largest defence supplier at a Tokyo media briefing this week. They come at a time when global security has been rocked by US President Donald Trump’s threats to weaken long-standing alliances.
Merryweather highlighted the potential benefits of co-ordinating on the development of low-cost drones that would go alongside the multibillion-dollar Global Combat Air Programme under development with Japan and Italy.
“All of the nations who are engaged in GCAP have the same need for these autonomous collaborative programmes to work alongside that aircraft,” he said. “In terms of collaboration with Japan, I think we are at the early stages of conversations around that, but it is certainly an area where working with international partners is of interest to us.”
Merryweather did not mention any potential involvement by Italy but added that balancing the drones’ capabilities with those of the fighter jet would be “critical” to GCAP’s affordability and success.
Although the final cost of the combat aircraft has yet to be determined, the drones would cost about a tenth of GCAP, he said. The UK has so far committed just over £2bn towards the original programme.
The work on GCAP is focused solely on the jet and does not include drones.
While drones can be developed far more quickly than GCAP, the aspiration is for a fighter jet that will work seamlessly with drones and be fitted with advanced communication systems.
One of the ambitions, said Merryweather, would be for the drones to undertake risky manoeuvres to suppress air defences before the expensive fighter jet enters combat zones.
BAE, Italy’s Leonardo and a Japanese industrial consortium led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries established the joint venture in December to oversee developing the fighter jet for a maiden flight by 2035.
The programme has gained newfound importance as Trump’s efforts to abruptly end Russia’s war with Ukraine have heightened European countries’ drive to bolster their own security.
A rival programme, the Future Combat Air System, is being developed by Airbus and France’s Dassault Aviation. Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive, earlier this year called for the two projects to work closely together given budgetary constraints and the importance of consolidating Europe’s fragmented market.
Faury cited drones and sensors as areas where companies could collaborate.
Japan is raising security spending towards 2 per cent of GDP, up from 1.6 per cent currently, as fears over the solidity of its alliance with the US have been stoked by Trump questioning the defence pact’s fairness last week.
Expectations of more security spending outside the US led Japanese defence stocks to surge last week, with Mitsubishi Heavy gaining 25 per cent. The company revealed concepts last year for two military drones that could potentially support GCAP, while BAE has also drawn up an idea.
The three GCAP partners have been discussing the potential involvement of Saudi Arabia as a partner providing financing and orders for the jet, despite reluctance in Tokyo about the kingdom’s role.
UK-Japan defence collaboration gained a further boost last month after the Asian nation’s Self-Defense Forces contracted the UK’s BMT to design a next-generation landing craft that shipbuilder Japan Marine United would construct.
