Is India Poised To Benefit From GCAP's Sixth-Gen Fighter Jet Development

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a tri-national partnership between Japan, the UK, and Italy to build a new sixth-generation combat jet, could open up export markets in Asia that have traditionally been difficult to penetrate.

The partnership is significant because of its access to the Japanese market, which could open the door to the Far East.

India is a potential target market for the GCAP, which aims to develop an advanced fighter jet by 2035.

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) announced last week will merge Japan's existing F-X project with the UK and Italy's Tempest alliance.

The F-X project is led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) as the single prime contractor, together with seven subcontractors. The resulting fighter jet is expected to replace the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's existing fleet of 91 MHI F-2 fighter aircraft by 2035.

The Tempest is being developed as part of the Future Combat Air System, which includes plans to work with a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles. The programme is being undertaken by four primary industry partners: BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rolls-Royce, and MBDA.

The merger of the FX and Tempest programmes under the GCAP will bring together the expertise of these companies to develop a new combat jet.

Rolls-Royce, IHI, and Avio Aero will work on the engine, while Mitsubishi Electric and European missile maker MBDA are also part of the programme, which includes advanced sensors, cutting-edge weapons, and data systems.

In recent years, potential customers in the Indo-Pacific region have opted for US products over the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is built by a consortium including the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

As a result, the GCAP will look to make inroads into markets that have traditionally been US customers. While this will not be an easy goal to achieve, the partnership is expected to increase the competitiveness of the combat jet in the global market.

"India could well figure in export ambitions for the GCAP,” Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, was quoted in a Financial Times report as saying.

Further, the GCAP could also help countries developing their own aircraft as they could incorporate subsystems developed in the programme such as engines, radars, and defensive aids etc.

It is pertinent to note that India is already working on its fifth-gen fighter aircraft programme - Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

The first prototype of the AMCA is expected to be developed in a few years.

The Critical Design Review (CDR) process for the AMCA project is slated for December this year after which approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security will be sought by the agencies developing the project.

“Once the project sanction is received, the first prototype can be rolled out in three years and the first flight in one to one and a half years after that”, AMCA project director AK Ghosh was quoted in an Outlook report as saying on the sidelines of the recently concluded DefExpo 2022.

The AMCA will be a 25-tonne, twin-engine stealth fighter jet with an internal weapons bay, It will also include a divertless supersonic intake, which has been produced in India for the first time.

It is estimated that India's first 5th-gen fighter jet prototype will take flight by 2028.  

However, the development of a local engine for AMCA is a significant challenge for India.

 The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which is developing the AMCA, is making efforts to join hands with at least three foreign players - France’s Safran, US’s GE and the British Rolls Royce - to co-develop fighter jet engines in India.

Among these foreign players, Britain's Rolls Royce is part of the GCAP and could help India in developing the engine for its fifth-gen fighter.

The first 40 jets of AMCA would fly on United States' GE-414 engines. The next version of the aircraft, AMCA Mark 2, will fly on an engine co-developed in India.