Global Tech Titans Unite to Propel GCAP’s Next-Gen Electronics Revolution

During the DSEI Japan exhibition held in Tokyo, the national industry leaders for cutting-edge defence electronics from Japan, the UK, and Italy have declared the establishment of a partnership agreement, marking the next official step towards a sustainable industrial framework.

The organizations involved—Mitsubishi Electric representing Japan, Leonardo UK standing for the UK, and both Leonardo and Elettronica representing Italy—have committed to advancing a closer business alliance and exploring suitable commercial and international operational models. This preparation is aimed at ushering the partners into the upcoming phase of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). Concurrently, all partners will continue their ongoing research and development initiatives.

As the defence electronics leaders for each GCAP nation, every collaborator brings a rich array of relevant skills to the ISANKE & ICS sector. In Japan, Mitsubishi Electric has already participated in the development of advanced electronics for the nation’s next-generation F-X initiative. Conversely, in Italy, Leonardo and Elettronica have focused on the evolution of state-of-the-art future combat multi-domain technologies, including sensors, communications, and data/information integration, under the Italian Defence Technology Initiative. Leonardo UK serves as a founding contributor to the UK’s Tempest project, established in 2018 to innovate 6th generation combat air technologies.

Collectively, this tri-nation coalition will work together to establish the ISANKE & ICS sector, tasked with providing advanced electronics for the GCAP platform. This innovation will endow the aircrew with a tactical advantage in information and enhanced self-protection mechanisms.

The ISANKE initiative will harness the capabilities of sixth-generation tactical sensing. It shifts from the conventional combat air paradigm of isolated airborne sensors to a fully integrated sensing, fusion, and self-protection system that relies on an interconnected web of sensing and action nodes across every platform. ICS will empower ISANKE to function as a cohesive network across formations of piloted and unpiloted aircraft, as part of each nation’s broader multi-domain system-of-systems. ISANKE & ICS will also guarantee interoperability among the three GCAP nations and their allies in collaborative missions.

Integrated across five critical domains—air, land, sea, space, and cyber—the GCAP core platform will efficiently handle significant volumes of data, offering aircrew the informational supremacy necessary for success in intricate and contested battlegrounds, while also delivering important intelligence to other operators. This elevates the 6th generation ISANKE & ICS domain well above previous operational capabilities.

In order to provide this advanced capability, the ISANKE & ICS domain partners acknowledge that existing programme frameworks, infrastructure, and performance metrics need to be reassessed to build the momentum required to achieve the transformative programme’s 2035 vision. The new agreement encompasses collective recognition of foundational principles of cooperation that will facilitate this speed, meeting client needs for equitable partnership among the three nations and creating a strategy that aligns with each nation’s aspirations regarding

integrated mission support, operational autonomy, and flexibility for adaptations. As the stakeholders work toward a lasting commercial framework to deliver the domain, national needs for industrial capabilities and shared intellectual property principles will be taken into account in the spirit of a fully integrated tri-national initiative.

Throughout this process, all companies involved will leverage insights and lessons extracted from major international partnerships, many of which have collaborated closely in the past. For instance, Mitsubishi Electric has played a pivotal role in Japan’s F-2 programme. With Leonardo participating in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme, both UK and Italian teams within the company contribute to the E-scan radar development for the aircraft as part of the EuroRADAR consortium. Additionally, Leonardo UK and Elettronica currently collaborate on the defensive aids subsystem for the Typhoon as design authorities in the EuroDASS consortium. These partnerships have fostered essential capabilities for the Eurofighter Typhoon throughout the programme’s lifecycle and will persist in doing so in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, Leonardo UK and Mitsubishi Electric have been collaborating since 2018 on the UK-Japan JAGUAR radar technology initiative, cultivating a relationship that is exceptionally productive, cooperative, and trustworthy.