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aviation week network factory
Alaska Airlines Builds Oregon Connections, Adding Portland-Houston RouteAlaska Airlines plans to buttress service at Oregon airports, highlighted by a new nonstop route between Portland and Houston.
Portland International Airport (PDX) serves as a hub for Seattle-based Alaska, which operates around 100 daily flights to 58 destinations from the airport. From May 15, the carrier will launch daily Boeing 737 flights between PDX and Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
Alaska will compete against United Airlines on the PDX-IAH route. The carrier says IAH is its largest unserved destination from Portland.
Houston becomes the third Texas city served by Alaska from PDX. The airline already operates to Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin from the airport.
Also on the same date, the airline will start serving Eugene, Oregon, from PDX. The 2X-daily Embraer 175 route will connect two Oregon cities located around 125 mi. apart. “There’s a 5:30 a.m. departure from Eugene that can be paired with a 9:55 p.m. return flight that allows for a full day in Portland without staying the night,” Alaska says in a statement.
Additionally, from May 15, the airline will open daily service between Medford, Oregon, and San Diego. It will be the 41st route Alaska operates from the southern California airport.
Also on May 15, Alaska plans to increase frequencies between PDX and Medford from 1X-daily to 4X-daily.factory
Jan 15, 2025
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Etihad Leases Returned Heathrow Slot To VuelingEtihad Airways has leased a daily slot at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Spanish carrier Vueling.
According to documents from slot coordinator Airport Coordination Ltd. (ACL), Vueling plans to utilize the slot during the IATA northern summer season for Airbus A320 operations from its base in Barcelona, Spain. The slot lease runs from March 30 through Oct. 25.
Vueling already operates double-daily flights to Heathrow using A320 aircraft and offers 25 weekly roundtrips between Barcelona and London Gatwick Airport, using a mix of A320 and A321 equipment.
The Heathrow slot was returned to Etihad earlier this month, having been leased to American Airlines. The U.S. carrier had been using the slot for flights between LHR and U.S. destinations such as Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Philadelphia (PHL), according to ACL.
However, American continues to offer up to 4X-daily flights between DFW and LHR, as well as operating daily between PHL and LHR. The Dallas route will rise to 5X-daily during the summer 2025 season—replacing British Airways’ service—while PHL will return to double-daily.
Etihad currently flies from Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) to Heathrow four times per day using a mix of A380-800, Boeing 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft. The airline provides about 21,000 two-way weekly seats between the destinations, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows.
On Jan. 14, the airline reported that it handled 1.7 million passengers during December 2024, up by 20% year-on-year. The airline’s load factor was 87%, compared with 84% in December 2023.
“In the full year of 2024, we carried more than 18 million guests, with a very healthy passenger load factor of 87% across the year,” CEO Antonoaldo Neves says. “More impressively, it represents an 80% increase in our total passenger numbers for 2022, underlining our strong growth trajectory over the past two years.”factory
Jan 15, 2025
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Maintenance Providers Tackle Aircraft Seat Densification ChallengesSeat densification trends coupled with increasing demands for connectivity can add complexity to the cabin, however, some experts suggest advances in this sector can also lower maintenance costs.
More airlines are choosing to densify the cabin, evidenced by several operators—such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines—transitioning to 10 abreast seating from nine abreast on refurbished Boeing 777s, offering newer but narrower seats. Reportedly, some refurbishments have led to an extra 20 seats in the economy cabin on those 777s.
Concurrently, airline passengers are seeking more connectivity, which brings increased touchpoints around the seat. Doug Backhus, vice president of cabins, modifications and maintenance at Boeing, says adding more seats enables airlines to offer competitive pricing and offer passengers more choice and flexibility to add further travel options.
Backhus says the introduction of slimline seats, which became popular about 10-15 years ago, has driven airlines’ ability to optimize cabins. “However, with the seat advancements and optimized seat design, the number of seat parts are reduced, thus reducing weight and cost to airlines,” he notes.
In economy class, the phase-out of passenger control units in favor of touchscreen technologies has helped reduce weight and wiring in the cabin. “This was a great move,” says Thomas Sonigo, vice president of aircraft modifications at AFI KLM E&M.
“In-screen Bluetooth will soon lead to the removal of headsets that the airlines load on board,” Sonigo says. He also predicts that new seat and cabin features might soon be controlled by passenger electronic devices once design and cybersecurity issues are reliable enough.
“I believe greater connectivity in the cabin is actually helping to make cabins lighter and simpler,” adds Sonigo.
The quest for higher yield per seat is pushing airlines to increase seating capacity, and Sonigo says AFI KLM E&M offers capabilities to help optimize the use of space inside the aircraft. However, reduced space between seats comes with challenges for maintenance, he says.
“Those seats are getting more exposed to damage during turnaround, so we are working to address this specific issue with seat manufacturers,” says Sonigo.
Maksim Jurkov, head of design at J&C Aero in Lithuania, says the main challenge in single-class cabins is frequency of use leading to faster wear and tear. “In such cases, we recommend cabin appearance quality standard checks,” he says.
Accordingly, J&C Aero works with operators to define quality standards and build a customized cabin maintenance program. Jurkov says this starts with periodic cleaning using specific instructions and images to ensure the same quality is maintained by any maintenance provider. It also includes performance of serviceability checks to improve the quality of the cabin and avoid dents, scratches and other damage.
“The program also includes the development of a predictive part replacement list that includes the most defective parts,” says Jurkov. “This helps to minimize last-minute AOGs during the hot season.”
Meanwhile, some OEMs are still reporting delays with vendors and suppliers, but Jurkov has not seen any substantial change in the OEM suppliers market. He suggests the big cabin component players have formed close alliances with the type certificate holders, such as Airbus and Boeing, for many years.
“Ultimately, the big are getting bigger, and they allocate most of their resources to new product supply due to quantitative reasons,” Jurkov says.factory
Jan 15, 2025
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Spain’S Summer Capacity Set To Soar As Aena Reports Record TrafficSpain’s capacity is projected to hit all-time-high levels during the summer 2025 season, following a record year for passenger traffic in 2024, as airport operator Aena gears up for a new phase of infrastructure investments.
According to analysis of the latest OAG Schedules Analyser data, airlines are set to offer approximately 118 million departure seats from and within Spain during the northern summer 2025 season, reflecting a year-on-year increase of more than 3% and a 14% rise compared to summer 2019. About 82 million seats this summer will be to international destinations.
This planned capacity growth follows Aena’s announcement of record passenger traffic in 2024, with its Spanish airports handling 309.3 million travelers, a 9.2% increase compared to 2023.
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport recorded the highest number of passengers with 66.2 million, up 9.9% year-on-year, followed by Barcelona El Prat (BCN) with 55 million passengers (+10.3%) and Palma de Mallorca with 33.3 million (+7%). In total, 21 airports set all-time passenger records, including Alicante, Malaga and Seville.
In response to the sustained growth, Aena is preparing significant infrastructure investments as part of its DORA 2027-31 plan, which will focus on expanding capacity, modernizing facilities and incorporating sustainability measures.
The company says the plan is designed to ensure that airport infrastructure is scaled to meet future demand while supporting economic and environmental objectives. It will be developed in consultation with airlines, local governments and other stakeholders.
Looking ahead to the summer 2025 season, the UK is set to remain Spain’s largest international market, representing approximately 23% of all international departure seats. Capacity in the Spain-UK market is scheduled to grow by 6.5% year-on-year.
Germany will retain its position as the second-largest international market—despite capacity remaining flat—while Italy (+2.8%), France (+0.6%) and the Netherlands (+11.7%) complete the top five.
BCN is scheduled to see the largest capacity growth among airports, with almost 1 million additional departure seats available compared with summer 2024. This rise is being driven by more than 550,000 seats added by Barcelona-based LCC Vueling, as well as almost 130,000 by Ryanair. Additionally, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are each adding more than 40,000 seats from BCN this summer.
The growth in Spain’s market comes as Routes Europe 2025 heads to Seville from April 8-10, hosted by the government of Spain, the Regional Ministry for Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Government of Andalucia and Seville City Hall.factory
Jan 15, 2025
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New Glenn Debut Flight Reset For Jan. 16CAPE CANAVERAL—Privately owned Blue Origin plans to try again on Jan. 16 to launch its first orbital rocket on a 6-hr. demonstration mission that includes an attempt to return and land the first-stage booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
After waiting out high seas downrange of its Cape Canaveral SFS launch site, Blue Origin fueled the two-stage rocket late Jan. 12, aiming for a liftoff between 1-4 a.m. EST Jan. 13. The launch team reached deep into the 3-hr. launch period before scrubbing for the day.
More than 15 hr. later, Blue Origin said the scrub was due to ice forming in a purge line on an auxiliary power unit that powers some hydraulic systems. The company initially scheduled another launch attempt for Jan. 14, but canceled that as well without comment, though weather predictions for launch were unfavorable.
The launch window, set to maximize launch opportunities while abiding by FAA airspace restrictions, remains the same 1-4 a.m. for the Jan. 16 attempt.
For its inaugural run, Blue Origin aims to put the New Glenn upper stage and attached demonstration payload into a highly elliptical orbit ranging from 1,500-12,000 mi. above Earth and inclined 30 deg. relative to the equator.
The upper stage is powered by a pair of liquid hydrogen-fueled BE-3U engines, a vacuum-optimized version of the engine on Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital booster, which debuted in 2015.
During 6 hr. of flight, Blue Origin plans to test technologies for upcoming missions of the company’s in-space services and hosting platform known as Blue Ring. The pathfinder is intended to validate space-to-ground communications and tracking navigation for future operational Blue Ring spacecraft.
Although New Glenn has not yet flown, the methane-fueled BE-4 engines that power its first stage do have flight history. United Launch Alliance, which uses a pair of BE-4s on its Vulcan rockets, launched twice in 2024, both times successfully.
New Glenn clusters seven BE-4s on its first stage, which unlike Vulcan is designed to be reused. The riskiest part of NG-1 is the BE-4 engine restart for the return to Earth and touchdown, Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos said during an interview ahead of the first launch attempt.factory
Jan 14, 2025
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Defense Secretary Pick Emphasizes Growing Fighter FleetsPete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, will push to increase the fighter fleets inside the Defense Department if confirmed, though in testimony on Jan. 14 he did not outline clear ways to pay for it.
Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer turned Fox News host, has turned into one of the more controversial nominations by Trump ahead of next week’s inauguration. During a testy Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, senators largely went back and forth on Hegseth’s social policies and relative inexperience.
But written answers to policy questions released during the hearing provided more details on Hegseth’s potential priorities if confirmed.
In carefully crafted responses to a series of questions on the state of the U.S. Air Force, Hegseth says he would want to return to policies raised, though not enacted, in Trump’s first administration. This includes the 2018 “Air Force We Need” plan outlined by then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, detailing the requirement to grow the force to 386 operational squadrons.
“The Air Force needs a mix of 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft balancing advanced capabilities and affordability to increase our fighter inventory,” he writes. “If confirmed, I will direct an immediate assessment of the [Air Force’s] capability and will recommend we commit additional resources, as appropriate.”
Hegseth would take charge of the Pentagon as the Air Force has paused development of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter. In the testimony, he writes that he intends to review the findings of the Air Force’s analysis and the overall need to improve the service’s capability “to develop a balanced and affordable plan to grow the tactical fighter aircraft fleet that is prepared to win the ‘fight tonight’ against a peer adversary.”
For NGAD, Hegseth told lawmakers he feels “a little bit liberated” because he has not worked for major prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin, so he does not have a special interest in supporting any particular system.
The Air Force, along with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, are awaiting the delayed Tech Refresh 3 upgrade to the F-35 fleet, which will unlock the needed Block 4 suite of combat capabilities. The F-35 Joint Program Office has outlined a plan to bring on incremental software releases of TR3, a move needed to resume deliveries of the jet, though fully capable aircraft are not expected to be delivered until later this year. Hegseth says he plans to review this acquisition strategy, which he calls “Block 4 Lite,” to find a balance of accelerating deliveries while remaining cost-effective.
The Air Force is also in the early stages of overhauling its moving target indication (MTI) mission, bringing on the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail to replace its E-3 AWACS while also looking to do more of the mission from space. Hegseth touches on the promise of this plan, saying that space-based capabilities such as radar and electro-optical sensors can provide an alternative “if near-continuous target coverage is available on orbit.
“Recent collaborations between government and the private sector indicate that we will have sufficient proliferation to enable space-based MTI,” he writes. “If confirmed, I will direct a review of MTI alternatives, including both air- and space-based capabilities, informed by the recently completed Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC) MTI Force Design Analysis with a view toward supporting our readiness to ‘fight tonight.’”
While Hegseth’s initial nomination was met with some controversy on Capitol Hill, the Jan. 14 hearing appeared split along party lines, with Republicans fully supporting the pick while Democrats uniformly condemned the choice.factory
Jan 14, 2025
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Saab Unveils Secret Drone Swarming Capability For Swedish MilitarySweden’s armed forces have revealed a secret drone swarming program using software developed by Saab.
The system, developed over the past year, is designed for sub-25-kg (55.1 lb.) uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). It allows individual soldiers to control as many as 100 drones at a time to gather intelligence, defense officials say.
Revealing the program during the People and Defense National Conference 2025 in Salen, Sweden, on Jan. 13-14, Defense Minister Pal Jonson told Swedish media that the system enables the drone swarms to “divide the tasks among themselves.”
Tasks for the swarms include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as creating a communication link with built-in redundancy. This allows drones at the front of the formation to send their data back to the operator, even when facing a contested electronic warfare environment. Saab says personnel can be trained on the system in days, “allowing the Swedish armed forces to quickly develop drone swarm capabilities,” a video about the system says.
The same video says the system can be rapidly upgraded with new functionality.
Jonson said the system will be tested in February during the Arctic Strike military exercise.
If successful, the technology will be rapidly introduced into the army this year, and military units including those conscripts will be trained on it.factory
Jan 14, 2025
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Global Aviation Tech Completes First Tamarack Winglet MilestoneWICHITA—Wichita-based MRO provider Global Aviation Tech has completed its first installation of a Tamarack active winglet as Tamarack’s newest authorized dealer.
The aircraft broker’s pilot arrived in Wichita on Jan. 10 to pick up the aircraft and begin the journey to the customer, based in Brazil. Global Aviation Tech also installed new LED lighting in the aircraft’s interior.
A second aircraft, this one a Citation CJ3, will arrive in Wichita for winglet installation to begin on Jan. 20, says Jerome Cottner, Global Aviation Tech president.
The first installation went smoothly, Cottner says.“The active winglet technology is a different install than just a bolt-on winglet, but it’s also doing more than a bolt-on winglet,” he says. “There’s critical inspection points and critical criteria that have to be correct, and that’s what we’ve done.”
With an active winglet, the winglet automatically adjusts positions by optimizing wind flow based on changing flight conditions for a more stable flight, Cottner says.
“Weather—if it’s windy, it’s adjusting to what inputs are given to the system to maximize the true performance of the airplane, so it’s really flying as efficiently as it can,” he says. And that means “immense” fuel savings.“He’ll get shorter takeoffs; he’ll need less runway to land; he’ll climb to altitude quicker, and he’ll be able to have a more efficient fuel burn while at altitude,” Cottner says. “His airplane will fly from Florida to Brazil with no problems and most likely saving them a lot of money on fuel because they’ll get to altitude quicker—get to cruise and just be good to go.”
Customers also save time and often a fuel stop along the way as well, says Jacob Klinginsmith, Tamarack president.
Tamarack selected Global Aviation Tech because of the depth of its experience as an FAA-approved repair station, its aerospace engineering expertise and its “strong portfolio” as a Supplemental Type Certificate developer, Tamarack officials say. It also was selected because of its central Midwest location.
“They checked all the boxes,” says Eric Cunningham, Tamarack vice president of sales. “The team is outstanding; the location is perfect.” It is conveniently situated to serve customers in North America and Mexico.The addition of Global Aviation Tech brings Tamarack’s total authorized dealers to four, including Tamarack’s headquarters in Sandpoint, Idaho, Rheinland Air Service (RAS) in Germany and Prince Aviation in Belgrade, Serbia. While not a formal dealer, Banyon Air Service in Florida also performs installations. In addition, Tamarack works with about 20 authorized service centers around the world.
An active winglet installation can be completed in 10 days or less to minimize downtime for clients, Cottner says. It’s also a good time for customers wanting other work performed to schedule it at the same time. With other MRO work happening across the company, Cottner prefers to have only one winglet installation project underway at a time, he says.
In January, Tamarack, based in Sandpoint, Idaho, celebrated completion of its 200th installation at its Transformation Center there. Global Aviation Tech’s completion marks No. 201.
Tamarack is expanding its platforms beyond Cessna Citations. It announced the addition of DeHavilland’s Dash 8 aircraft and the Airbus A320. In 2024, it finalized a large contract with the Air Force. Beyond that, the company is working to expand the technology on additional platforms, Klinginsmith says, with hopes to make some announcements later in 2025.
“The technology was never meant to be only on Citations or only on business jets,” Klinginsmith says. “That’s an important focus for expanding the Citation capabilities but also expanding onto other platforms.”factory
Jan 14, 2025
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Azores Airlines Restructures North American NetworkSATA Azores Airlines is making changes to its North American network for the upcoming summer season, dropping several routes introduced in 2024.
Nonstop flights from Funchal, Madeira, to Boston Logan International Airport, New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport will not return this summer. Similarly, three routes from Porto Airport to the same destinations are also not scheduled to resume.
The airline introduced five of the six routes during the summer of 2024, with the Funchal-New York service launching in November 2021. The Porto flights marked Azores Airlines’ return to transatlantic operations from mainland Portugal, following the suspension of Lisbon-Boston and Lisbon-Toronto routes in October 2017.
Despite the discontinuation of nonstop services, the airline plans to maintain one-stop flights from Funchal to New York and Toronto via Ponta Delgada, according to data from OAG Schedules Analyser. The carrier also intends to offer one-stop connections from Porto to Boston and New York through Ponta Delgada.
Other network changes this summer include the suspension of flights from Ponta Delgada Airport (PDL) to Bermuda and London Gatwick Airport. Terceira-Oakland is also not scheduled to resume. However, frequencies from PDL to Faro will rise from 3X to 4X-weekly, while both Frankfurt and Milan Malpensa will increase from 2X to 3X-weeky.
In its financial results for the nine months to Sept. 30, 2024, Azores Airlines said the nonstop U.S. and Canada services from Funchal and Porto—mostly operated as part of an ACMI agreement—were “unsuitable commercial options, mainly due to the increased costs involved.”
“The latter effect was particularly noticeable in the third quarter of 2024, as the ACMI operation took place between June and September, which was not the case in 2023,” the company said.
Azores Airlines reported an average load factor of 85.7% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2023. The decline was attributed to increased capacity from the use of larger aircraft, including ACMI operations involving “oversized aircraft,” which negatively impacted load factor. Operating costs also increased by €28.6 million ($29.3 million) in Q3, up by 31% year-on-year.
The airline said that going forward, its operational plan would focus on its “core routes,” linking the Azores with Portugal and strong inbound tourist destinations such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain.factory
Jan 14, 2025
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Jet Aviation To Provide Saf At World Economic Forum 2025Jet Aviation is partnering with Zurich Airport to provide sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025.Jet Aviation began offering SAF via Book and Claim in 2022 but has since offered it onsite during the event. According to the company, Jet Aviation was the first company to offer SAF for purchase in Switzerland in a pilot scheme during WEF 2020.“We are delighted to be able to offer SAF onsite again during the World Economic Forum in Davos,” says Joao Martins, vice president of regional FBO operations Europe at Jet Aviation. “We promise our customers a seamless experience, and this includes offering more sustainable choices, such as access to SAF. We are incredibly proud to be able to provide this choice at all of our sites in Switzerland, either via temporary onsite supplies for key events in Zurich and Geneva, or with a permanent supply at our headquarters in Basel.”On Jan. 13, the company announced its permanent offer of SAF at its site in Bazel, Switzerland, for all departing, maintenance, redelivery and test flights.“This is a fantastic achievement, and we are incredibly proud to bring SAF to Basel for the first time. As our global headquarters and largest maintenance site, as well as home to our VIP completions business, Basel is central to our network,” says Jet Aviation President Jeremie Caillet. “Making SAF available for customers here reinforces our commitment to working together with our partners to continue increasing access to SAF as part of our contribution towards the industry’s efforts for a more sustainable future.”According to Jet Aviation, the offering could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% over its lifecycle and can be used as a fully compliant drop-in Jet A/A-1 fuel. The supply is made possible through the company’s partnership with World Fuel.“World Fuel is advancing the aviation industry’s access to sustainable aviation fuel,” says Duncan Storey, World Fuel senior vice president of supply aviation Europe. “Our collaboration with Jet Aviation to introduce SAF at Basel Airport marks a significant step toward our long-term goal of supporting the industry’s transition to carbon neutrality.”factory
Jan 14, 2025aviation week network factory
Mro Memo: Engine Oems Cool On Risk TransferOver the past few decades, engine manufacturers have tended to steer customers toward full-service maintenance programs, under which airlines pay for support based on their engines’ flight time.
Often, this was a win-win situation, providing risk transfer and predictable costs for airlines and locking in long-term revenue streams for the OEMs.
Manufacturers also benefited from the exceptional reliability and durability of engines like the CFM International CFM56 and IAE V2500, which stretched out the time between overhauls, limited hospital visits and unscheduled maintenance.
However, these attributes are not shared by newer engines like the CFM International Leap and Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan, as a result of which certain OEMs are cooling on full-service, flight-hour-based maintenance contracts, according to lessor Avolon.
It noted that engine-driven aircraft groundings peaked in 2024 as Pratt & Whitney continued to rectify its powdered metal production quality issues, while Leap groundings also increased due to the need for high-pressure turbine blade replacements.
“New-technology engine durability issues have resulted in some manufacturers decreasing their focus on risk transfer maintenance programs, driving cost increases for airlines that risk outweighing fuel savings,” the lessor wrote in its 2025 business forecast. “This trend reinforces the value of current-technology models while fuel price remains moderate."
Avolon also noted that the average age of passenger aircraft has risen 1.7 years since 2018 as airlines are forced to operated older aircraft for longer than usual as a result of new generation engine issues due to a “structural under-supply of new aircraft.”
It added: “Longer economic lives support demand for maintenance services and strong aircraft residual values.”factory
Jan 14, 2025aviation week network factory
Gcap Needs To ‘Break The Mold’ To Deliver By ’35, Uk Lawmakers SayLONDON—The Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) will have to “break the mold” if it is to achieve its target of delivering a new-generation combat aircraft by 2035, UK lawmakers have suggested.
In a report on the three-nation combat aircraft project between Italy, Japan and the UK, members of the UK Parliamentary Defense Select Committee say the project will need to avoid the mistakes made by previous programs such as the Eurofighter.
They call for relationships between government and industry to be “carefully navigated,” and for workshare arrangements to “accommodate flexibility” and for the three governments to be “open-minded” about allowing additional nations to join the initiative, although these will have to be weighed carefully against the risk of “jeopardizing the 2035 in-service date,” the lawmakers say.
Furthermore, multiyear funding, a process that is generally not adopted for UK defense programs, should be considered as it would “provide certainty and inspire confidence from international partners,” suggests the committee’s report, which was published Jan. 14.
The committee notes that in the UK, GCAP is likely to eat up a “significant share of the defense budget,” and the lawmakers call for increased transparency about those costs.
GCAP aims to launch a full-scale development contract for a new combat aircraft by year’s end. The resulting platform will replace the Eurofighter Typhoons flown by Italy and the UK and the Mitsubishi F-2s operated by Japan. They should be able to operate alongside the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters flown by each of the partner nations.
“While today’s report welcomes GCAP, it also cautions that the [UK] Ministry of Defense must have a firm grip on the program,” said Tan Dhesi, the defense committee chair.
“GCAP’s timescales are ambitious–we have a window of opportunity now, at this early stage, to make choices that set the program on the right track ... history shows us that costs can easily spiral, but pressures on the UK’s defense budget mean there is no margin for mismanagement,” Dhesi added.
Exports are key to the program’s success and will help to keep unit costs for the partner nations down, the report says. But the committee expresses concerns in part about the potential for export disputes.
Similar issues with Germany have hampered the UK’s ability to sell the Eurofighter to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The committee is also concerned that Japan’s inexperience with defense exports could present its own “unique challenges” for GCAP.
The report notes that the committee is “greatly encouraged” by Japan’s recognition of the importance of exports to GCAP partners, and it is urging the UK government to “continue to support and encourage Japan in making the necessary legislative and industrial progress” to ensure the fighter can be exported.
The committee also calls for the program’s delivery structures, both governmental and industrial, to be “sufficiently empowered to take timely and binding decisions as the program progresses.” It notes that any repeat of the structural failings experienced on the Eurofighter program could place GCAP in jeopardy.
The three governments have already established through an international treaty the UK-based GCAP International Government Organization, which will manage the program. The lead system integrators in each of the three countries—BAE Systems of the UK, Italy’s Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. (JAIEC), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries—have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) that will produce the future combat aircraft. The unnamed JV’s formation is subject to regulatory approvals.factory
Jan 14, 2025