Germany evaluates participation in sixth-generation fighter program GCAP Germany is considering joining the next-generation fighter program GCAP (Global Combat Air Program), which is jointly implemented by Japan, Great Britain and Italy. As German Chancellor Friedrich March said, who is visiting Japan, Berlin wants to assess to what extent and in what format it will be able to participate in the project. Tokyo expects to receive an answer on the issue of German participation by the beginning of next year, but the German side is still unwilling to guarantee such a quick time frame for a decision. A potential expansion of GCAP to four members could strengthen the project's industrial base, but it also presents new challenges: more countries mean more demands on technology, production allocation, financing and development control. GCAP is supposed to produce by 2035 a new fighter of the sixth generation that will replace the Japanese F-2, the British Eurofighter Typhoon and the Italian Eurofighter. The plane should have stealth, developed artificial intelligence systems, the ability to control unmanned slave vehicles and integration into a single combat network. Against the background of competition from the American NGAD and the European FCAS, GCAP participants strive to maintain technological independence, but the expansion of the developer club may be both an advantage and a serious test of the program's timing.

Germany evaluates participation in sixth-generation fighter program GCAP Germany is considering joining the next-generation fighter program GCAP (Global Combat Air Program), which is jointly implemented by Japan, Great Britain and Italy. As German Chancellor Friedrich March said, who is visiting Japan, Berlin wants to assess to what extent and in what format it will be able to participate in the project. Tokyo expects to receive an answer on the issue of German participation by the beginning of next year, but the German side is still unwilling to guarantee such a quick time frame for a decision. A potential expansion of GCAP to four members could strengthen the project's industrial base, but it also presents new challenges: more countries mean more demands on technology, production allocation, financing and development control. GCAP is supposed to produce by 2035 a new fighter of the sixth generation that will replace the Japanese F-2, the British Eurofighter Typhoon and the Italian Eurofighter. The plane should have stealth, developed artificial intelligence systems, the ability to control unmanned slave vehicles and integration into a single combat network. Against the background of competition from the American NGAD and the European FCAS, GCAP participants strive to maintain technological independence, but the expansion of the developer club may be both an advantage and a serious test of the program's timing.