Multinational GCAP stealth fighter jet moves into full engineering phase following $6.14 billion contract

The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) stealth fighter is moving deeper into its engineering phase after the GCAP Agency awarded a £4.6 billion (about $6.14 billion) international contract to Edgewing. Announced on July 3, 2026, the deal funds the next 18 months of development for the UK–Italy–Japan programme and is intended to lock in the aircraft’s principal configuration while completing baseline engineering design. The agreement follows a temporary £686 million bridge contract signed in April 2026 and the UK’s newly approved £8.6 billion GCAP commitment under its four-year Defence Investment Plan. Teams will validate structural architecture, mature software frameworks, integrate advanced propulsion, and finalize internal weapons bay and fuel volume capacities for the sixth-generation stealth fighter. The programme targets prototype manufacturing later in the decade and entry into service by 2035.