Rolls-Royce announces propulsion milestone for GCAP combat jet engine

Published Jul 22, 02:10 PM UTC

Rolls-Royce has announced a series of propulsion milestones for the UK's future combat air effort, leveraging its Orpheus demonstrator to advance the engine design for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). The update was part of broader announcements from the Team Tempest partnership, which includes the Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems, Leonardo, MBDA, and Rolls-Royce. For the UK's Future Combat Air System (FCAS) flying demonstrator, Rolls-Royce is providing two modified EJ200 engines, originally used in the Typhoon. The company stated that the rapid learning model from Orpheus is compressing traditional timelines and reducing risk for future aircraft. These lessons are being scaled internationally through the GCAP engine demonstrator, developed with Japan's IHI and Italy's Avio Aero, advancing toward ground testing. Richard Berthon, MoD Director of Future Combat Air, highlighted the pace of progress in digital manufacturing, flight testing, and next-generation propulsion, emphasizing that these efforts strengthen sovereign combat air capability and ensure UK leadership in air power innovation.