Excerpt:

>TOKYO -- The next-generation fighter jet planned by Japan, the U.K. and Italy may be developed through a joint venture and built in more than one country, according to officials at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), one of the prime contractors for the program.

>Sixth-generation fighters are expected to perform a central role in network-centric warfare, which aims to integrate the assets of the various military branches to devise the most efficient attack.

>The three countries are in broad agreement on the capabilities they want the new aircraft to have, but they still have to work out the program's details, such as the project timeline and where to manufacture components.

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>BAE Systems and Leonardo have experience developing and marketing fighter jets for the global market. Mitsubishi Heavy, which developed the F-2 fighter, has only produced equipment for the Japanese market and is looking to its European partners for international expertise.

>The common language of the project will be English, and already many British and Italians have visited MHI's development office in the central Japanese city of Nagoya to discuss details.

>BAE Systems said, "Discussions are ongoing and no decisions [regarding a joint venture or other matters] have been made," in a written response to a request for comment.

>Competition in the market for next-generation fighters is expected to be intense. France, Germany and Spain, for instance, last month agreed to move forward with development of a fighter jet to replace the French Rafale, and German and Spanish Eurofighters, beginning in 2040.

Rhyannon Bartlett-Imadegawa and Mitsuru Obe, Nikkei, 29 December 2022.

Terrible idea if you want a jet within the next 3 decades that isn’t already obsolete on production, and each country may pull funding at anytime. This will be a political nightmare.

>Terrible idea if you want a jet within the next 3 decades that isn’t already obsolete on production

Yeah just look how fast and problem-free the F-35 turned out!

That’s my point. That’s one defense company in one country. Imagine the madness between 3 countries arguing over what gets built where and who isn’t pulling their weight. It’s a doomed venture.

The Eurofighter born in that ambiance, France was upset because they wanted to receive the majority of the cake, so they leave the program to make the rafale

France is also the only country other than the US with an operational CATOBAR style carrier, and wanted an locally designed (not American) aircraft to fly from it. Adding a carrier variant was a headache for the F-35, and ended up being yet another major reason why they backed out of the Eurofighter. None of the other countries cared about having a carrier version.

Yes, we just need to look at the Russian SU-57 program to see how much faster, efficient, and trouble free a fighter development program is when it is done by only one country. Wait...

A lot of planes get built in joint ventures because most of these countries couldn't afford to design and build them alone.