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Germany is exploring whether it can join the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the next-generation fighter jet project run by Britain, Italy and Japan, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday in Berlin. Speaking alongside his British counterpart, Wes Streeting, Pistorius said initial discussions had already taken place and that he would hold talks with his Italian and Japanese counterparts within the next two weeks.
"Time is an absolutely critical factor here," Pistorius said, adding that Berlin wants to establish quickly whether all three partners are willing to include Germany and on what conditions. Those conditions include timelines and how the work would be divided among the partners. After the talks, he said, Germany will decide on its next steps, "or perhaps decide not to proceed." He warned that Germany and its partners cannot afford to spend another five years negotiating, stressing that the new aircraft capability must be available in the early 2040s regardless of the outcome.
GCAP was announced in December 2022, merging Britain's Tempest project with a Japanese fighter initiative, with the aim of fielding a new aircraft by 2035 to replace Britain's Eurofighter Typhoon and Japan's Mitsubishi F-2 fighters. Britain, Italy and Japan spent five years building the programme's current contractual framework, including how to divide the work among their contractors.
Berlin is looking for an alternative after the collapse in June of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), its long-troubled fighter project with France and Spain, which foundered after years of disagreement over industrial leadership, intellectual property and the division of work. In October, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham invited Germany to join GCAP, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz raised the prospect of a joint fighter project with Japan and its partners during a visit to Tokyo last week.
Streeting said Britain was open to Germany joining, but stressed that it would have to be a joint decision by all three existing partners. No final decision has been made, and questions remain over industrial responsibilities, timelines and whether Germany's entry could complicate a programme already well advanced. Earlier reporting has also noted concern in Japan about keeping the 2035 deadline, German assessments said to favour a separate route with Sweden and Spain, and Canada's position as an observer to the programme. The talks in the next two weeks are intended to give Berlin a first sense of the conditions under which German participation might be conceivable.