Airbus could join UK-Japan-Italy fighter jet project

Airbus could join the British-Japanese-Italian Global Combat Air Programme to build a next-generation fighter jet, chief executive Guillaume Faury said on Wednesday.

Faury told a media call that joining the programme, known as GCAP, was one possibility after a separate fighter jet project involving Airbus and Dassault Aviation collapsed in June.

Airbus represented Germany and Spain in that earlier effort. Faury said the German government was now in contact with other countries about potential partnerships.

Britain, Japan and Italy have allocated more than $5.5 billion for the GCAP jet and aim to have it in service by 2035. Canada has joined the programme as an observer.

Faury said Airbus believed the next-generation jet should be developed through cooperation and that the company wanted to be involved. Dassault, which acted for France in the collapsed project, is now working with the French state on a jet to replace the Rafale.