Edgewing awarded full international GCAP contract as programme officially transitions to design and development phase

With the award of the full international contract, the GCAP contract has now progressed to full design and development. (Edgewing)

The full international contract for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) was awarded on 3 July 2026.

The Edgewing industrial consortium responsible for delivering the programme on behalf of the national partners of Italy, Japan and the UK announced it had been awarded GBP4.6 billion (USD6.1 billion) by the GCAP Agency that is part of the GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO).

“The GBP4.6 billion contract will enable completion of the advanced concept and assessment phase of the programme, and further joint detailed design and development. The 18-month contract has been awarded by the GCAP Agency, which manages GCAP on behalf of the three governments, to Edgewing, the trinational prime contractor and design authority for the GCAP aircraft,” Edgewing said.

This award follows an initial GBP686 million contract that was given by the GCAP Agency to Edgewing in April 2026 as a bridge through to this first full contract. The UK government said in mid-June that this latest award to transition the programme from concept and assessment phase through to full design and development phase would be forthcoming “by the end of the month”. The UK Defence Investment Plan (DIP) 2026 published on 30 June promised GBP8.6 billion over the next four years. “This is a very significant investment in GCAP, alongside Japan and Italy. Obviously, that will provide funding through the concept and into the design of that project, and it will be a key priority for this [UK] government,” an official said.