By Cristina Gallardo

BAE Systems, Leonardo and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said they will be equal partners in a joint venture tasked with developing a sixth-generation fighter jet.

The Global Combat Air Programme is aimed at putting a stealth fighter with supersonic capability in the skies by 2035.

The new joint venture will be responsible for the design, development and delivery of the aircraft, as well as the design of any future iterations for as long as the jet remains in the market, which the companies expect could be beyond 2070.

The U.K.'s BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and Mitsubishi's Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement will each hold a 33.3% stake, they said in a joint statement Friday.

The new joint venture will likely be up and running by the middle of 2025, with headquarters in Reading, U.K. and operations and joint teams working in each partner countries. Its first chief executive will be from Italy, the companies said.

The announcement comes after a period of uncertainty over the U.K. government's commitment to the program, following the arrival of the Labour Party to power in last summer's general election. The joint venture is established under an international treaty bringing together the U.K., Italy and Japan.

Kimito Nakae, president of Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement, sounded a note of caution over the program, noting that the path ahead "might not always be simple and straightforward."

"However, I believe that through continuing the strong spirit of trilateral cooperation and collaboration that we have fostered up to this point, we will not only deliver the GCAP on time but also at a level that exceeds all of our expectations," he added.

Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2024 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT)

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