Newsletters
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Monday he will meet his Italian and Japanese counterparts in the coming weeks to explore whether Germany could join the next-generation fighter jet program run by Britain, Italy and Japan.
Pistorius spoke at a joint news conference in Berlin with his British counterpart. He said Berlin wants to learn quickly whether the three partners are willing to include Germany and on what terms.
“Time is an absolutely critical factor here,” Pistorius said, adding that the two sides agree on the point. He said initial discussions have already taken place.
Pistorius said he plans to meet Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi within the next few weeks. He said the talks should give Berlin a first sense of the conditions under which German participation might work, including the timeline and how the work would be divided among the partners.
After those meetings, he said, Germany will decide on its next steps, “or perhaps decide not to proceed.” He said all sides know there is “no time to lose.”
Pistorius noted that Britain, Italy and Japan spent five years building their current contractual framework. Germany and its partners, he said, cannot afford to spend another five years negotiating. He stressed that the new aircraft capability must be available in the early 2040s regardless of the outcome of the talks.
The Global Combat Air Programme, as the British-Italian-Japanese effort is known, was announced in December 2022. It merged Britain’s Tempest project with a Japanese fighter initiative, with a target of fielding an aircraft by 2035.
Pistorius’s remarks followed an announcement by Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a visit to Tokyo last week. Merz said Germany would explore a joint fighter jet project with Japan and its partners.
Berlin is looking for alternatives after the collapse in June of the Future Combat Air System, its long-troubled fighter jet project with France. That program was launched in 2017 by France and Germany, and Spain joined later.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
