Japan, Italy, and the UK have aligned to engineer a new 6th-generation stealth fighter called the Global Air Combat Program (GACP) designed to build upon and strengthen their respective growing F-35 fleets. Stealth CollaborationSurging forward with a new collaborative, multinational 6th-generation stealth fighter jet makes sense given that Italy and the UK are F-35 customers and Japan recently made a large, multi-billion-dollar F-35 purchase. Bringing this vision to operational reality will require that the new 6th-generation aircraft be securely and successfully “networked” with F-35s and even 4th-generation platforms. This is something a 6th-generation aircraft would likely be integrated with. The CNN report also suggested that the new multinational Italy-UK-Japan fighter may operate drones from the cockpit, something the U.S. 6th-generation aircraft also plans to accomplish.

Source: CNN April 19, 2023 20:48 UTC