Italy joins Japan, UK in ratifying GCAP treaty

A model of the latest GCAP concept, shown at the Farnborough International Airshow with the colours of the Italian Air Force projected onto the airframe. (BAE Systems)

Italy has joined Japan and the United Kingdom in ratifying the treaty it signed to co-develop the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

Italian Undersecretary of State for Defence Isabella Rauti announced the conclusion of the ratification process in the Italian parliament on 13 November.

“With the approval today in the Chamber of Deputies of the Convention for the establishment of the Global Combat Air Programme, the parliamentary process of ratification and execution of the agreement – signed in Tokyo in December 2023 – between Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom is concluded,” she said.

Italy's ratification of the GCAP treaty came weeks after Rauti's UK counterpart, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Luke Pollard, announced on 14 October that his country had concluded its ratification process. Japan had already ratified the treaty earlier in 2024.

With this latest milestone, the three partner countries are now officially bound into the GCAP programme by law. With GCAP comprising the manned combat aircraft element of the future system-of-systems, other elements such as the unmanned ‘loyal wingman' adjuncts are being developed on a national basis.

Industrial leaders from the three national primes of Leonardo for Italy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for Japan, and BAE Systems for the UK have recently said that with the current concept and assessment phase due to be completed in the coming months, the programme is on track to commence the next phase that will run through to entry into service in 2035.