Future GCAP fighter takes next step as Edgewing opens first engineering hub

The network to support the development of a future fighter jet for the multinational Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) has begun to take shape, as Edgewing opens its first engineering hub in Italy.

Located in Turin, next door to GCAP partner Leonardo’s facilities, the site will be responsible for engineering work on the aircraft’s systems and subsystems.

Officially opened on 8 October, the building is expected to house more than 300 employees from all three nations – the UK, Italy and Japan – by the end of 2027. Longer term, Edgewing has plans for a second building, with more than 1,000 employees expected at full capacity.

“Our new site in Italy is the latest step in Edgewing’s rapid growth as an organisation, as we scale up the company across our three nations,” said Marco Zoff, CEO of Edgewing. “Ready to disrupt the defence industry by delivering dramatically quicker than previous generation programmes, the innovation and energy we can access here in Turin will underpin our acceleration.”

Designing a GCAP fighter across three nations

With the collapse of the Franco-German FCAS fighter programme still a recent memory, success in GCAP is clearly going to take close collaboration between the partners.

Edgewing was the first concrete manifestation of that. Formed in 2025 and headquartered in Reading, UK, it is the industrial lead and design authority for the GCAP aircraft. Earlier in 2026, it was awarded contracts worth more than $6 billion by the tri-national GCAP Agency to progress work on the future fighter.

That work is progressing at pace. BAE Systems is in the final stages of assembling its Combat Air Flying Demonstrator, a precursor to the full scale ‘Tempest’ aircraft designed to test many of the systems and technologies that will power the new fighter. First flights are planned for late 2027.

GCAP has always maintained that there would be equal ownership and equal workshare across the partners, something that proved to be a sticking point for the other European sixth generation programme. The engineering hub in Turin is the first physical evidence of that cross-national cooperation.

Turin is the first of three Edgewing engineering hubs

The employees at the new engineering hub will be seconded from their jobs with the three partner companies – BAE Systems in the UK, Leonardo in Italy and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co (JAIEC). Some secondees will be moving their families thousands of miles from home to join the endeavour, something Edgewing says shows “the huge excitement underpinning the programme.”

“GCAP represents the next generation of technology, and this new site represents an opportunity for many to join Edgewing and work on some of the world’s most advanced digitally-driven engineering,” said Giuseppe Lupoli, General Manager of Edgewing in Italy. “I look forward to welcoming colleagues from across our three partner nations to Turin as we embark on this journey together.”

Turin may be the first of these sites, but two more are set to follow in the coming weeks.

In Japan, the engineering hub will be in Nagoya, adjacent to the facilities of JAIEC. And in the UK, it will be in Warton, Lancashire, home to BAE Systems. There has been no confirmation of when this will take place, although both are expected to be announced by the end of the year.