Half of New UK Fighter Jet Demonstrator Now Assembled

Team Tempest partners announced that approximately half of the main structure of the UK's first crewed combat aircraft demonstrator in 40 years is now in final assembly at BAE Systems' Lancashire site. Over 11,500 parts have been designed, accounting for 90% of the aircraft's weight. The first robotically assembled component, built in BAE's Factory of the Future, has been completed—a first for UK industry—and will undergo structural testing later this year alongside one of the wings. The demonstrator is being built by the Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and MBDA to prove advanced manufacturing and digital design techniques for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). Richard Berthon, Director of Future Combat Air at the MoD, highlighted the pace and scale of progress. The Tempest programme is expected to contribute £37 billion to the UK economy between 2025 and 2070 and support an average of 16,000 jobs annually over the next decade. GCAP, a trilateral effort with Italy and Japan, aims to field a sixth-generation crewed fighter around 2035.