Britain reveals brand new 5th generation fighter development!

[waz]

A model of the UK's planned new fighter jet, the Tempest, has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show.

The UK's Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, said the jet could be used with either pilots or as a drone.

The craft will eventually replace the existing Typhoon fighter jet. It will be developed and built by BAE Systems, engine maker Rolls-Royce, Italy's Leonardo and missiles expert MBDA.

Mr Williamson said the UK would be investing £2bn in the new project.

The hope is to see it flying by 2035.

Mr Williamson said the programme was aimed at ensuring the UK's continued leadership in fighter technology and control of air space in future combat: "We have been a world leader in the combat air sector for a century, with an enviable array of skills and technology, and this strategy makes clear that we are determined to make sure it stays that way."

He added that the UK, currently excluded from the latest fighter programme underway between France and Germany , was not against forming a partnership with other nations: "It shows our allies that we are open to working together to protect the skies in an increasingly threatening future - and this concept model is just a glimpse into what the future could look like."

'Direction of travel'
According to BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, the Tempest looks remarkably similar to the current generation of stealth jets, including the US developed-F 35.

Its sleek lines are designed to be hard to detect by radar, but unlike the current generation of jets it could also operate as a drone without a pilot.

It would also be the first British-designed jet to carry laser directed energy weapons capable of shooting down aircraft and missiles.

Aeropace giant Airbus welcomed the new jet programme: "Airbus welcomes the UK's commitment of funding for the future fighter project. We look forward to continuing collaborative discussions with all relevant European players."

Earlier, the chief executive of BAE Systems, Charles Woodburn, told the BBC's Today programme that the new jet would be some time in coming.

"We already have the Typhoon platform which forms the absolute bedrock of European air defence and that'll be in service for decades to come," he said.

He added that the inner workings of the new craft would start life within the Typhoon.

"The important thing about the new concept is that it will illustrate a direction of travel and many of those technologies that will be embodied in that will first see their service through the Typhoon.

"For example, upgrades on the avionics, upgrades in the weapons systems, upgrades in the radar will be deployed through the Typhoon and will be deployed there and then."


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44848294

Yes baby, BAE and Rolls Royce, two of the best on the planet taking the RAF to another level.

 

[UKBengali]

@waz

This is excellent news and I am sure that the Tempest will be one of the best fighters out there when it comes out in the 2030s.

My only gripe is the idiot politicians that did not make this decision in the early 2000s when the Typhoon was ready for induction. If they had then a 5th generation fighter jet built in the UK would have been ready by now for service. Hundreds of these fighter jets would have found a market in Australia, Canada, India and the Middle East.
Whatever money would have been spent in development would have been recouped by export sales.

 

[BHarwana]

 

[GeraltofRivia]

It is not surprising that European countries will come up with their own 5th gen jet fighter at some point. They have a lot of experience and technology in aviation sector. Also having a European lead fighter program is important to uphold an independent and self sufficient defense aviation industry.

Does £2b investment sound a little insufficient for developing a 5th gen fighter? I saw Meteor program costs £1.2b for UK only and that is only a missile programme. F35 program costs $55b for development only. Naturally they would look for cooperation from other key partners like France and Germany but this figure is still a bit low for a project lead. Any thoughts?

 

[UKBengali]

It is not surprising that European countries will come up with their own 5th gen jet fighter at some point. They have a lot of experience and technology in aviation sector. Also having a European lead fighter program is important to uphold an independent and self sufficient defense aviation industry.

Does £2b investment sound a little insufficient for developing a 5th gen fighter? I saw Meteor program costs £1.2b for UK only and that is only a missile programme. Naturally they would look for cooperation from other key partners like France and Germany but this figure is still a bit low for a project lead. Any thoughts?

2bn UK pounds is far too low.
The article does state that Italy's Leonardo will be involved and private companies will also invest money.
UK is looking for a partner and the article mentions Sweden's Saab.
Whatever happens UK will spend many more times more to develop this fighter.

 

[waz]

It is not surprising that European countries will come up with their own 5th gen jet fighter at some point. They have a lot of experience and technology in aviation sector. Also having a European lead fighter program is important to uphold an independent and self sufficient defense aviation industry.

Does £2b investment sound a little insufficient for developing a 5th gen fighter? I saw Meteor program costs £1.2b for UK only and that is only a missile programme. F35 program costs $55b for development only. Naturally they would look for cooperation from other key partners like France and Germany but this figure is still a bit low for a project lead. Any thoughts?

Aside the US the UK is the other major developer of the F-35, which gave BAE huge experience and the article says it will learn from that program i.e. the development costs have already been borne out. The 2 billion is also an initial investment. By the way France and Germany will not be partners, they are developing their own.

2bn UK pounds is far too low.
The article does state that Italy's Leonardo will be involved and private companies will also invest money.
UK is looking for a partner and the article mentions Sweden's Saab.
Whatever happens UK will spend many more times more to develop this fighter.

Not sure what Saab would bring.

@waz

This is excellent news and I am sure that the Tempest will be one of the best fighters out there when it comes out in the 2030s.

My only gripe is the idiot politicians that did not make this decision in the early 2000s when the Typhoon was ready for induction. If they had then a 5th generation fighter jet built in the UK would have been ready by now for service. Hundreds of these fighter jets would have found a market in Australia, Canada, India and the Middle East.
Whatever money would have been spent in development would have been recouped by export sales.

The F-35 took up most of our time and resources.

 

[UKBengali]

Aside the US the UK is the other major developer of the F-35, which gave BAE huge experience and the article says it will learn from that program i.e. the development costs have already been borne out. The 2 billion is also an initial investment. By the way France and Germany will not be partners, they are developing their own.

Not sure what Saab would bring.

The F-35 took up most of our time and resources.

Another thing to point out is that a lot of the technologies that go into the aircraft will first be developed and tested on the Eurofighter. So while UK will spend much more than 2bn UK pounds, it still will be a fraction of what US spent on F-35.

 

[waz]

Another thing to point out is that a lot of the technologies that go into the aircraft will first be developed and tested on the Eurofighter. So while UK will spend much more than 2bn UK pounds, it still will be a fraction of what US spent on F-35.

Don't forget the tech on the F-35 as well.

 

[UKBengali]

Not sure what Saab would bring.

Nothing from a technology viewpoint for sure.

Saab may want to get involved as it would like to keep it's fighter aircraft technology up to date and the UK would find a willing buyer of a lot of aircraft(~100).

 

[Tshering22]

Looks like F-35 is not going as planned since Britain despite investing so much money is getting very minimal control from Lockheed Martin over IPs.

 

[UKBengali]

Looks like F-35 is not going as planned since Britain despite investing so much money is getting very minimal control from Lockheed Martin over IPs.

This is nothing to do with F-35.
Tempest will start to replace Typhoon from 2035.
F-35 is more an air to ground plane.

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

It is not surprising that European countries will come up with their own 5th gen jet fighter at some point. They have a lot of experience and technology in aviation sector. Also having a European lead fighter program is important to uphold an independent and self sufficient defense aviation industry.

Does £2b investment sound a little insufficient for developing a 5th gen fighter? I saw Meteor program costs £1.2b for UK only and that is only a missile programme. F35 program costs $55b for development only. Naturally they would look for cooperation from other key partners like France and Germany but this figure is still a bit low for a project lead. Any thoughts?

Gripen E was developed for $2B, but that relied on working together with companies like Leonardo and General Electric which will charge their development cost for units produced. The Software Architecture of Gripen E makes for much cheaper software development than that of the F-35. Both are supposed to have around 20-30 million lines of code

 

[UKBengali]

Gripen E was developed for $2B, but that relied on working together with companies like Leonardo and General Electric which will charge their development cost for units produced. The Software Architecture of Gripen E makes for much cheaper software development than that of the F-35. Both are supposed to have around 20-30 million lines of code

Gripen E is an upgrade of Gripen C and not a completely new fighter.
Also Sweden spent nothing on Gripen E's engine as that was provided by GE, whereas the Tempest will have everything built in the UK bar the electronics from Leonardo. Even then things like the AESA radar will be developed by the UK subsidiary as it did for the Gripen E's AESA. Tempest will be pretty much an all-UK fighter plane

What do you think the chances are of Saab getting in on this project as junior partner of BAe? Think they would make an ideal partner and would allow Sweden to work on one of the most advanced next-gen fighters for an affordable sum of money.

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

Gripen E is an upgrade of Gripen C and not a completely new fighter.
Also Sweden spent nothing on Gripen E's engine as that was provided by GE, whereas the Tempest will have everything built in the UK bar the electronics from Leonardo. Even then things like the AESA radar will be developed by the UK subsidiary as it did for the Gripen E's AESA. Tempest will be pretty much an all-UK fighter plane

What do you think the chances are of Saab getting in on this project as junior partner of BAe? Think they would make an ideal partner and would allow Sweden to work on one of the most advanced next-gen fighters for an affordable sum of money.

Most of the stuff in Gripen E is new, including fuselage.
As for Leonardo and GE, that is what I said in my first post.
SAAB will have to decide if they want to join this, or a French/German initiative.

 

[UKBengali]

Most of the stuff in Gripen E is new, including fuselage.
As for Leonardo and GE, that is what I said in my first post.
SAAB will have to decide if they want to join this, or a French/German initiative.

Gripen E fuselage is based on the existing Gripen design and so not a new airframe design like Tempest will be.

Let us wait and see who Saab partners with - I am thinking it will be BAe as they already worked with them on the Gripen successfully.