Britain and Japan are close to an agreement to merge their next-generation Tempest and F-X fighter jet programs, with the two countries aiming for a deal on a new joint project by year-end, three sources told Reuters.
It would be the first time Japan has sought a non-U.S. partner for a large military program and the first major collaboration between Tokyo and London, going beyond what had been expected when industrial talks began five years ago.
“This would be an equal partnership between Japan and Britain,” said one of the sources with knowledge of the plan. It will cost tens of billions of dollars, he added.
The push to combine the Japanese F-X program, led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with Britain’s Tempest, managed by BAE Systems, by December has not previously been reported.
The sources asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
“The main thing that we are aiming for is to build a common jet, that may have small differences in design for each country,” said another of the sources.
Britain could handle exports in Europe, while Japan would take care of the Asian market, another of the three sources said.
Collaboration would spread development costs, while exporting would increase production lots and reduce the price per plane.
It would represent a deepening of security ties between the two close U.S. allies. London is taking on a bigger military role in Asia under a strategic “tilt” towards the Indo-Pacific region, and Tokyo is expanding defense cooperation beyond Washington.
Japan’s policy, pushed by late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to strengthen Tokyo’s hand against neighboring China, has taken on new urgency following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The switch to a European partner comes as Japan’s defense spending rises, with the budget expected to double over the coming decade as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sticks with Abe’s national security agenda and fulfills an election pledge to “substantially” increase military outlays.
“We would like to decide how we can cooperate by the end of this year, and are considering various possibilities,” Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
Britain’s defense ministry had no immediate comment. The country’s air force head, Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, told a conference on Thursday that Britain is “exploring partnering opportunities and sharing our technological expertise with a range of international partners, including Japan and Italy.”
Mitsubishi Heavy and BAE declined to comment.
Britain plans to give an update on Tempest at next week’s Farnborough Airshow, another source said, without elaborating.
Japan’s partnership with Britain is a chance for BAE and other European Tempest companies, such as Rolls-Royce, missile maker MBDA and Italian defense group Leonardo to tap a growing market long-dominated by U.S. companies.
Efforts to merge the fighter jet projects follow deepening co-operation between the U.K. and Japan in recent years from the Joint New Air-to-Air Missile project to sensor work and a deal to develop an engine demonstrator.
“You can see the direction of travel,” said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies.
It is more than 20 years since Mitsubishi Heavy, maker of the World War II-era Zero fighter, and U.S. defense group Lockheed Martin built Japan’s F-2 fighter, a short-winged derivative of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Lockheed, which later developed the F-35 stealth plane, had also been expected to help Mitsubishi Heavy build the F-X, an F-2 replacement, which Japan wants to deploy in the 2030s to counter advanced fighters from China.
The program cost of developing the F-X is estimated by Japanese Defense Ministry officials at around $40 billion, $700 million of which has been allocated this year, making it a lucrative proposition for Japanese companies that lost out as Tokyo bought American planes, including the F-35.
The BAE-led Tempest project to field a replacement for the European Typhoon combat jet has a government budget of £2 billion ($2.38 billion) until 2025, when full development is slated to start.
It is one of two European initiatives for the next generation of air power alongside the French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System, currently mired in divisions between partners Airbus and Dassault Aviation.
Lockheed, in 2018, had proposed using an F-22 Raptor airframe and F-35 components for the F-X, but that tentative partnership ended this year because U.S. control over the sensitive technology meant Washington could say when and how Japan maintained and upgraded its planes, the sources said.
A Lockheed spokesperson said questions about the program should be referred to the Japanese government.
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