The UK Secretary of State for Defence has confirmed plans for Britain to lead the development of a new flying combat air demonstrator, which will play a critical role in proving the technology and design principles needed to deliver the UK’s Future Combat Air System.

BAE Systems will lead the project, working with the Ministry of Defence and a number of suppliers across the UK. This pioneering project will deliver the first flying combat air demonstrator in a generation – designed and developed in the UK. The demonstrator aircraft will fly within the next five years.

The flagship project is part of a suite of novel technologies being developed by Team Tempest. These concepts are designed to demonstrate and test the next generation combat air skills, tools, processes and techniques needed to ensure Tempest, the UK’s Future Combat Air System, achieves in service in 2035.

Team Tempest comprises the expertise of the Ministry of Defence and UK combat air leaders BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, Rolls-Royce and MBDA UK. Launched in 2018, alongside the UK’s Combat Air Strategy, Tempest will play a crucial role in providing long-term defence and security for the UK, while delivering significant economic benefits to the nation, securing high-value skills and careers and contributing to prosperity in many UK regions.

Engineers at BAE Systems across the North of England are leading the design, test, evaluation and build process, bringing together new and novel digital engineering technologies such as synthetic modelling and model-based systems engineering.

These innovative design and engineering methods are helping to demonstrate how they will significantly reduce the time it takes to design, deliver and upgrade complex combat aircraft.

Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said “I am delighted that the UK, alongside Italy and Japan are working on similar combat air journeys together. Our work with Japan and Italy on cutting-edge technology like this shows the benefit of our alliances across the world.”

“The design and development of the demonstrator aircraft represents an important milestone, showcasing the success and talent of our engineers, programmers and software developers. This programme will go on to attract opportunities for many more great minds and talent from across the UK.”

Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive, said “We recognise our responsibility in providing trusted sovereign combat air capability. We’re partnering with the UK’s highly motivated and skilled supply chain to accelerate the innovation of the nation’s future air power; integrating new technologies so the Royal Air Force and its allies can stay ahead of our adversaries.”

“The demonstrator is an exciting once-in-a-generation opportunity providing experienced and young engineers alike a chance to contribute to an endeavor which really matters to our national defence and security”, concluded.

The demonstrator will provide evidence for the critical technologies, methods, and tools, which will be used on the core platform. As part of the broader activity involved in developing Tempest, the demonstrator programme is also helping retain, further develop, and stimulate the next generation of skills and expertise required to deliver this ambitious programme.

Tempest was launched in 2018, in response to the UK’s Combat Air Strategy, which set out an ambitious vision for the future. It outlined the importance of the UK’s sovereign combat air sector in ensuring that the UK retains choice in how it meets its defence and security capability needs and initiated the programme to deliver the successor capability to Typhoon.

The strategy also recognised the broad benefits the sector delivers to the nation and committed to ensure that future procurement decisions consider military capability, international influence, and economic benefit, along with the overall cost to deliver maximum benefit for the UK.

Leonardo, key partner for FCAS development

Italy and the UK have long been on a path to identify potential areas of industrial cooperation between leading national companies in the sector of Defense, with the ambition of initiating activities of mutual interest. In this context, also thanks to the relentless work of the General Secretariat of Defense and National Armaments Directorate and UK MoD, the two nations have reached a collaboration agreement within the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, developing demonstration activities on advanced sensors and systems.

The FCAS program will develop technologically advanced multi-domains system of systems, hinged on highly innovative and disruptive technologies, with a 6th generation core platform, replacing the Eurofighter fleet starting from 2035. This ambitious project will maintain national sovereignty of the participating countries in the Combat Air sector, while redesigning future operational and industrial capabilities in the aerospace domain.

The collaboration between Leonardo and BAE Systems focuses on the application of Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) design methodologies and the joint development of enabling technologies for the national sovereignty of the future system.