Rajnath Singh leaves for UK today, talks on 6th generation fighter jet expected

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, January 7

A high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a two-day visit to the United Kingdom from January 8. The visit comes at time when the UK, in partnership with Italy and Japan, has launched a programme to produce the 6th generation fighter jet named it the ‘Tempest’.

The ‘tempest’

• The UK, in partnership with Italy and Japan, has launched a programme to produce the 6th generation fighter jet named it the ‘Tempest’. The partners of the project have shown interest that India should be part it
• The three countries have signed an agreement over shared design and development of the fighter to roll it out by 2035

The partners of the ‘Tempest’ project have shown interest that India should be part it. The topic is expected to come up when Rajnath Singh holds a bilateral meeting with his UK counterpart Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps.

“They are expected to discuss a wide range of defence, security and industrial cooperation issues,” the Ministry of Defence said today.

India is currently producing 4th generation jet the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and is ready to take a leap and make an indigenous fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) planned for induction in 8-10 years from now. The AMCA is being designed in India and will be manufactured here. It is planned to have General Electric engines and the Safran engine for two separate versions. The Tejas uses a GE engine.

The UK, Italy and Japan partnership aims to go a step ahead of fifth-generations capabilities.

The three countries have formed what is called the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). The three governments also formed the GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO).

Ministers from Italy, Japan and the UK have signed a treaty on GIGO, which is an agreement over shared design and development of the ‘Tempest’ that could be roll out by 2035, almost by the time India rolls out the AMCA.

“Discussions on the future joint industrial construct to deliver GCAP are continuing, with representatives from Leonardo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and BAE Systems,” the BAE systems had said on its website in December last year. The three sides have already announced a ‘collaboration agreement’ to support long-term working arrangements and maturity of the concept and capability requirements for the ‘Tempest’.

Rajnath Singh will be accompanied by a high-level Ministry of Defence delegation, comprising senior officials from DRDO, armed forces, Department of Defence and Department of Defence Production.