Britain, Japan and Italy sign advanced fighter jet programme treaty

Britain, Japan and Italy have signed an international treaty to establish a programme aimed at developing an advanced fighter jet, the defence ministers announced on Thursday.
The agreement, which Reuters reported this month, comes a year after the three countries established their first major defence industry collaboration by merging the separate next-generation fighter efforts of London and Tokyo.
The parliaments of each country must ratify the agreement, which aims to see the combat aircraft in flight by 2035. The joint development phase of the programme will begin in 2025.
Both the joint government headquarters of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and its industry counterpart will be based in Britain. The government organisation’s first chief executive will come from Japan, while the first leader of the business organisation will be from Italy, according to the announcement.
“No nation can do this alone to this level of expertise combined with our skills and our equipment, with our design and ability on production lines,” British defence minister Grant Shapps said.