Flight International 2023 10.pdf

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FlightGlobal.com
October 2023
New-look
Aeralis aimed
at trainer market
Sixth
sense
How GCAP partners
stay in formation
p6
6X appeal
Dassault’s
new twinjet
set to soar
p33
Business aviation’s big
SAF journey
p52
Why lessors are backing
alternative propulsion
p58
£5.99
Going Dutch
Ukraine gets
ready for
gifted F-16s
p24
Comment
Bright future
Flying the flag
Leonardo
A ‘spirit of equal partnership’ and harmonious relations
between Italy, Japan and the UK have given their GCAP
fighter effort a smooth start – but can that continue as
all-important workshare discussions advance?
S
o far, so good. That was
the verdict on the hugely
ambitious Global Combat
Air Programme (GCAP), as
delivered by military and industry
figures during mid-September’s
DSEI show in London.
With nine months under the
wings of a trilateral effort involv-
ing Italy, Japan and the UK, all
parties remain in tight formation
on their journey towards deliver-
ing a sixth-generation fighter for
service from 2035.
Phrases such as “genuinely
shared interests”, “spirit of equal
partnership” and “robust funding
path” were in rich supply, as
officials from each of the nations
shared a stage in public for the
first time.
Evolved
from
the
UK-only
Tempest project launched in 2018,
GCAP took off last December, as
Rome, Tokyo and London sought
to align their future operational and
industrial requirements through a
joint endeavour.
There was a distinctly hon-
eymoon-period feel to the raft
of
announcements
made
at
the show, strengthening agree-
ments between the future fight-
er’s airframe, avionics and weap-
ons partners. But can the current
spirit of harmony persist as hard-
er discussions take place around
the programme’s organisational
set-up, decision-making processes
and industrial workshare?
Now under way, this process will
without question pose the stern-
est test yet for the programme,
which seeks to develop and field an
advanced fighter in half the time of
previous collaborative efforts.
It will not be without risks. As an
example, Europe’s other current
future fighter activity – a partner-
ship between France, Germany and
Spain – suffered a one-year delay
to the start of its current phase of
work, due to wrangling between
industrial giants Dassault Aviation
and Airbus Defence & Space.
While an agreement was even-
tually reached over Dassault’s lead
role in developing a New Genera-
tion Fighter, one industry observer
cautions that the European Future
Combat Air System effort could still
be “a divorce waiting to happen”.
Those involved in the GCAP dis-
cussions must ensure that they do
not cause a similar slip while defin-
ing their exact requirements and
industrial expectations.
All parties seemingly accept
that a strict one-third-each work-
share allocation is not practical,
but conversations will become
difficult if any player feels that
their contribution is undervalued.
Which company with cutting-edge
technology and know-how will end
up producing the landing-gear
doors, or would voluntarily miss
out on final assembly work?
Make no mistake: the outcome
of GCAP really matters to each of
the three nations involved, but so
far there have been no forecasts
released suggesting the poten-
tial scale of their combined future
buys. This means that also sell-
ing the type on the international
market will be a key contributor
towards driving down costs.
With Japan today unable to
export defence equipment as a
result of the nation’s constitu-
tion, strong agreements around
the ability of its partners to make
future international sales of the
jointly-developed fighter must be
hammered out at this early stage.
The UK is currently unable to
conclude a potential follow-on sale
of Typhoons to Saudi Arabia due to
political opposition from Eurofight-
er partner nation Germany, and
such a situation cannot be allowed
to happen again on a future
collaborative product.
So while progress appears to be
free of turbulence for now, only
once key industrial and organisa-
tional decisions have been conclud-
ed within the next year will we know
if the GCAP endeavour can succeed
in keeping all of its partners happy
and hitting its mid-2030s service
introduction target.
◗
See p6
October 2023
Flight International
3
In focus
Powering ahead with GCAP
6
Aeralis hones trainer offering
8
P&W expands PW1100G
inspection mandate
10
Northrop reveals B-2 updates
12
Cargo drone delivers for RN
14
Lockheed bolsters Black Hawk’s
British credentials
15
Control issue delays X-59
16
More Max 8 checks needed
17
Regulatory loopholes laid
ground for AW169 crash
20
Kyiv’s F-16 coalition takes off
24
UK aviation alliance plots course
for hydrogen-fuelled future
26
Yakovlev flies first ‘Russified’
Superjet
28
Dassault’s 6X certifications
33
58
New emotion
Heart Aerospace’s hybrid-electric ES-30
FlightGlobal.com
October 2023
New-look
Aeralis aimed
at trainer market
46
£5.99
Sixth
sense
How GCAP partners
stay in formation
p6
Business aviation’s big
SAF journey
p52
Why lessors are backing
alternative propulsion
p58
BAE Systems
6X appeal
Dassault’s
new twinjet
set to soar
p33
Going Dutch
Ukraine gets
ready for
gifted F-16s
p24
Regulars
Comment
3
Best of the rest
42
Straight & Level
68
Letters
70
Women in aviation
74
4
Flight International
October 2023
Contents
In depth
Safe bet
46
Strong aircraft backlogs
and resilient demand for
private air travel mean the
business aviation industry
is approaching 2024 in
good shape
Under scrutiny
52
Is business aviation on course
for its sustainability targets?
Green assets
58
Specialist players in air
finance are getting interested
in alternative propulsion
Power struggle
64
Battery safety and pilot training
concerns have prompted US
unions to oppose adoption
of eVTOL types, as the
FAA hones its ‘powered-lift’
certification model
64
14
74
October 2023
Flight International
5

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