Italy’s GCAP fighter program investment now costs more than its F-35 fleet after €8.8B approval.

On February 12, 2026, Italy’s parliament authorized €8.8 billion for the sixth-generation GCAP fighter, placing its total development at €18.6 billion, surpassing Italy’s €18 billion expenditure for 90 F-35 stealth fighters.

On February 12, 2026, Italy’s parliament authorized €8.8 billion for the sixth-generation GCAP fighter, covering concept assessment and full development phases. Updated projections place total development at €18.6 billion, surpassing Italy’s €18 billion expenditure for 90 F-35 aircraft and positioning GCAP as the country’s most expensive defense program.
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The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), initiated in December 2022 by the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan, with a target of operational entry by 2035, to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Mitsubishi F-2. (Picture source: Edgewing)

As reported by Reuters, Italy’s parliament approved a €8.77 billion (equivalent to $10.7 billion) in funding for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) sixth-generation fighter, launched in December 2022 with the United Kingdom and Japan. The decision was adopted by the defence committee of the lower house and was final, so no further plenary vote was required. The €8.77 billion authorization, which will be distributed through 2037, concerns the initial Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the programme, defined as Concept Assessment and Preliminary Design, followed by Full Development. Italy now estimates that these two phases will cost €18.6 billion at 2025 prices, compared with about €6 billion calculated at 2021 prices when the programme was first outlined.

The increase is attributed to higher costs in technology maturation, testing, development, and design. Of the €18.6 billion total, €2 billion has already been secured and partially allocated to Phase 1, while €16.6 billion is required to complete both phases. The €8.8 billion approved will be paid in annual tranches through 2037, and the remaining €7.8 billion needed to reach €16.6 billion will be arranged at a later stage. The €18.6 billion development projection exceeds the €18 billion previously spent by Italy to acquire 90 F-35 stealth fighter jets, making the GCAP the most expensive programme in the history of the Italian armed forces. The scale of the increase from €6 billion to €18.6 billion has generated domestic political reactions focused on budgetary sustainability and oversight.

The financial estimate covers only development phases and does not yet include future production and lifecycle support costs. If comparable development contributions are made by the United Kingdom and Japan, total trilateral development expenditure could approach €60 billion, placing the programme within the cost range of previous large-scale combat aircraft development efforts. The Global Combat Air Programme was formally established on December 9, 2022, by the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan, consolidating the British-Italian Tempest initiative and Japan’s F-X programme into a single sixth-generation fighter development effort. The programme sets a target date of 2035 for entry into service of a new combat aircraft intended to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon in Royal Air Force and Italian Air Force service and the Mitsubishi F-2 in the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Production is expected to begin around 2030, following concept assessment, preliminary design and full development phases. The project reflects a coordinated response to evolving threat environments in both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, with the three governments linking security developments in the two theatres. Exportability is integrated into the baseline concept in order to increase production volume and reduce unit costs while sustaining advanced aerospace design and manufacturing capabilities within the partner nations. The GCAP's governance model is built around two complementary pillars: the GCAP International Government Organisation and the industrial joint venture Edgewing. The GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO), headquartered in the United Kingdom, represents the three defence ministries and oversees programme strategy, requirements, and resource allocation.

Parallel to this, the industrial joint venture Edgewing was created with equal ownership by BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement, each holding 33.3 percent. Airframe development responsibilities are distributed among BAE Systems in the United Kingdom, Leonardo S.p.A. in Italy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Propulsion development is conducted jointly by Rolls-Royce, Avio Aero and IHI, while advanced sensing and communications are organized under the Integrated Sensing and Non-Kinetic Effects & Integrated Communications Systems architecture, supported by the G2E consortium integrating radar, electronic warfare and communications domains. The overall financial scale of GCAP extends across more than a decade and into the mid-2030s, with cumulative development expenditure by the three partner nations expected to reach several tens of billions of euros.

National projections indicate that early-phase development costs have risen from approximately €6 billion at 2021 price levels to figures closer to €18.6 billion at updated prices for concept assessment and full development phases. When aggregated across the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, total development effort could approach €60 billion, placing the programme in a financial category comparable to major U.S. fifth-generation fighter development programmes. Funding is structured in phased allocations extending through 2037 and beyond, reflecting the staged nature of design, prototype manufacturing, flight testing and systems integration. The upward revision in projected costs is linked to increased expenditure on technology maturation, propulsion research, sensor integration, digital architecture and testing infrastructure.

From a technical perspective, the GCAP is designed as a stealth multirole fighter incorporating sixth-generation characteristics centered on digital integration and networked operations. The aircraft architecture is based on open mission systems intended to support continuous software upgrades and modular capability insertion over decades of service. Planned capabilities include a large internal weapons bay designed to carry a wide range of NATO and allied munitions, compatibility with collaborative combat aircraft for manned-unmanned teaming, and enhanced electronic warfare functions. Stated performance objectives include an internal payload capacity roughly double that of an F-35A and a range sufficient to enable long-distance deployments, potentially on internal fuel alone.

High onboard computing power is intended to support autonomous kill-chain generation, advanced sensor fusion and secure high-bandwidth communications across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. In the global sixth-generation fighter landscape, all efforts target service entry in the mid-2030s and the integration of crewed aircraft with unmanned adjunct systems, advanced sensors, and digital architectures. The U.S. Air Force is advancing its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative with the Boeing F-47 expected to begin fielding in the early 2030s, while the U.S. Navy separately pursues the F/A-XX to succeed the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, though its timeline is less defined. In Europe, the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS), also known as SCAF, aims for a service entry in the 2040s, while Sweden has conducted national research but has not yet matured into an independent program equivalent in scale to GCAP, NGAD, or FCAS.

Beyond Western efforts, China is advancing two designs commonly referred to as the Chengdu J-36 and Shenyang J-50, with prototypes reported in flight testing since late 2024, potentially positioning them for operational availability in the early to mid-2030s. Russia’s sixth-generation interceptor project, the MiG-41/PAK DP, remains less visible with no confirmed prototypes publicly observable, and has been constrained by broader industrial and fiscal pressures. South Korea is developing long-term technologies and enhancements to its KF-21 Boramae, manned-unmanned teaming, AI systems, and a domestic advanced engine programme running from 2027 to 2040, to support future performance growth. From its inception, the GCAP has been structured with an explicit export orientation and the possibility of additional participants beyond the three founding nations.

Germany has been mentioned recently, particularly following tensions within the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS programme, including disputes over workshare distribution and intellectual property rights, which have periodically raised questions about Berlin’s commitment. Australia and Canada received formal briefings from the GCAP consortium, reflecting their ongoing evaluation of long-term options beyond their F-35As and their interoperability with both European and Indo-Pacific partners. Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in joining, linking potential participation to its Vision 2030 objective of localizing up to 50 percent of defence expenditure domestically, although Japan has previously raised concerns regarding its arms transfer principles.

India has also been raised as a potential participant after Japan proposed that New Delhi join GCAP, with Japanese representatives visiting India in February 2025 to brief Indian authorities and extend an invitation. Internal tensions have also emerged regarding the extent and depth of technology sharing among partner nations. Public statements from Italy’s defence minister have criticized what he characterized as a limited willingness by the United Kingdom to share certain advanced technologies within the programme framework, particularly in areas such as propulsion, electronic systems, and mission architecture. In addition, the upward revision of early development costs from approximately €6 billion at earlier price levels to around €18.6 billion for concept assessment and full development phases in updated projections has generated domestic political scrutiny in at least one partner country.

These concerns arise despite the formal 33.3 percent ownership structure of the Edgewing joint venture shared equally by BAE Systems, Leonardo, and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement, and the parallel governance role of the GCAP International Government Organisation. However, governance mechanisms through the GIGO and Edgewing are intended to manage such issues within agreed structures. The debates illustrate the complexity of coordinating equal industrial participation while safeguarding sovereign technological assets in a long-duration multinational defence programme, although less publicly than the SCAF.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.