Tokyo and London will begin work on an engine demonstrator for a new generation of fighters. These machines can be adopted by about 2040.
The United Kingdom and Japan have announced plans to jointly develop a prototype jet engine for a new generation of fighters created under the Tempest and F-X programs. The agreement became part of military-technical cooperation between the countries, which also includes joint work on air—to-air weapons.
Work on the demonstration engine will begin early next year, when the United Kingdom will invest an initial 30 million pounds in "planning, digital development and innovative production developments."
NEWS: The UK and Japan have announced plans to jointly develop a future fighter aircraft engine demonstrator, with the shared intention to explore further technologies in the future ???? Read more here: https://t.co/Wg9lG8EP4d pic.twitter.com/MWH5iPIswd- Team Tempest (@TeamTempestUK) December 22, 2021
As a result, they will create a full-scale demo. From the UK side, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems will participate in the project, from the Japanese — IHI Corporation (formerly known as Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
No details about the expected characteristics are disclosed at this stage. It is not even clear whether the demonstrator will be installed on a flying test stand or whether it will be used exclusively for ground static tests.
It is known that both the British Tempest and the Japanese F-X will be quite large machines equipped with two engines.
A mock-up of a fighter for the British Air Force was shown at the Farnborough Air Show in 2018. The inconspicuous fighter of the new (sometimes they say "sixth") generation will be operated on a par with the F-35 Lightning II and Eurofighter Typhoon, gradually replacing the latter with a novelty. Presumably, the aircraft will be released in both manned and unmanned versions. The concept received a non-flying lantern, which helps to improve the indicators of low visibility.
Tempest
Image Source: Team Tempest
If we talk about Japan, it wants to replace the aging F-2 fighter, which is an upgraded version of the American F-16.
Tokyo has been working in this direction for a long time. Back in 2016, the Japanese first took to the sky a new generation fighter technology demonstrator, known as the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin or ATD-X (Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X).
This is a relatively small machine, having a length of 14 meters and a wingspan of nine meters, which is comparable to the size of the light Swedish fighter Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Later, Japan made it clear that they see a promising new-generation combat vehicle as a conditional analogue of the F-22 Raptor: it will be significantly larger than the Shinshin.
