The companies will establish the ISANKE & ICS sector and introduce advanced electronics to the GCAP platform.

Italian firm Leonardo has entered into an agreement with industry partners from the UK and Japan for the next phase of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

The participating companies include Mitsubishi Electric from Japan, as well as Leonardo and Elettronica from Italy, along with Leonardo UK.

This new collaboration was formed on 15th March during the ongoing defense event DSEI Japan at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo.

It signifies the subsequent formal stage in establishing a permanent industrial structure for GCAP.

Within this partnership, the companies will assess different commercial and international operating models suitable for the program.

The collaborative effort will proceed alongside the ongoing research and development work conducted by individual industry partners.

The primary goal of the new agreement is to collectively develop the Integrated Sensing and Non-Kinetic Effects & Integrated Communications Systems (ISANKE & ICS) domain of GCAP.

This domain will directly contribute to the advanced electronics integrated into the future combat aircraft, providing self-protection capabilities to the aircrews.

The development of this capability will involve the three-nation team reassessing performance metrics, infrastructure, and program structures to accelerate the project’s timeline, set for completion in 2035.

To achieve this, the companies will leverage their individual experiences and expertise.

Additionally, the companies will collectively acknowledge the tri-national requirements and establish an approach to meet each nation’s integrated mission support, freedom of action, and modification demands.

ISANKE is anticipated to introduce sixth-generation tactical sensing technology, characterized by a network of sensors, focusing on delivering a fully integrated sensing, fusion, and self-protection network, unlike conventional fighter platforms with separate sensors.

The integrated network will be realized with the assistance of ICS, enabling ISANKE to support various manned and unmanned aircraft through this multi-domain system-of-systems.