Feature: G2E consortium kicks off development plan for GCAP sensing and communications
The three-nation G2E consortium has been established to develop and deliver the integrated sensing, non-kinetic effects, and communications systems for GCAP. (BAE Systems)
A trinational industry team has begun establishing the infrastructure and facilities that will underpin design and development of the integrated sensing and communications component of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) sixth-generation combat aircraft being developed by Italy, Japan and the UK.
Known as GCAP Electronics Evolution (G2E), the consortium of Leonardo (through separate operating companies in the UK and Italy), ELT Group (Italy) and Mitsubishi Electric (Japan) announced the award of a Task 1 concepting and assessment phase contract from GCAP prime contractor and design authority Edgewing on 10 September 2026. Signed in late July, the 18-month contract – the value of which has not been disclosed – funds activities that will frame and mature the development environment within which the GCAP Integrated Sensing and Non-Kinetic Effects (ISANKE) and Integrated Communications System (ICS) will gestate.
“What we're trying to do now is ensure that we have the physical and digital infrastructure [necessary and] to do it manifestly differently to what's gone before,” Andrew Howard, G2E interim general manager, told a 21 July media briefing at the 2026 Farnborough International Airshow. “Concepting and assessment is…where we will really mature our thinking and our design. That is absolutely critical before we move forward to a design development contract thereafter.
“Through the Task 1 activities, you'll see recruitment across the four companies, we'll see new buildings and infrastructure, new digital infrastructure, more investment in high-powered computing, in modelling, in synthetics, across a range of different sensing and communication activities. We need this to ensure that the integrated sensing network that we are trying to deliver is properly formed and enabled.”
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