UK’s Team Tempest gets $822 million to advance next-gen warplane tech

LONDON — The BAE Systems-led team driving development of a next-generation combat jet has won a multimillion-dollar deal from the British Ministry of Defence to mature dozens of new technologies ahead of building a demonstrator aircraft.

The award for Team Tempest, as the industry partnership is named, comes in a £656 miĺlion ($822 million) and will fund “concepting and technology” associated with development of the fighter, BAE said.

The new investment will help industry and MoD assess the maturity of advanced technologies ahead of decisions over what to include on a demonstrator aircraft targeted to fly before 2027.

There are currently around 60 of the technologies being worked on via technology demonstrations and digital concepts by Team Tempest and its partners.

Besides BAE, Team Tempest industry partners include weapons maker MBDA UK, power plant developer Rolls-Royce and sensor and electronics company Leonardo UK.

The industry grouping was set up in 2018 when the British government rolled out its future combat air strategy during that year’s Farnborough air show.

Details are scarce of exactly what technologies are being looked at in the latest phase of the program, but in general they will likely include areas such as advanced supersonic propulsion, electrical power generation, integrated sensing, laser direct energy weapons, integrated communications systems and stealth materials.

The investment forms part of more than £2 billion worth of planned UK government spending on the project up to May 2025.

In a statement due to be released April 14, BAE said UK Tempest partners, working in collaboration with the MoD, will now progress technologies “critical to the UK’s sovereign defense capability and will help shape the final requirements – together with the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partners in Japan and Italy – for the combat air platform, due to enter service with the Royal Air Force by 2035.”

Britain is in the throes of putting together a partnership with Italy and Japan to develop the GCAP effort.

The new investment commitment from the MoD relates to UK work, although the effort will also help shape the tri-national effort.

“The next tranche of funding for future combat air will help fuse the combined technologies and expertise we have with our international partners – both in Europe and the Pacific – to deliver this world-leading fighter jet by 2035,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——由 BAE Systems 牵头的下一代战斗机研发团队赢得了英国国防部数百万美元的合同，将在建造演示机之前完善数十项新技术。

英国航空航天系统公司（BAE Systems）表示，授予“暴风雨团队”（Team Tempest）的奖金为 6.56 亿英镑（8.22 亿美元），将用于资助与战斗机研发相关的“概念和技术”。

这项新的投资将帮助工业界和国防部评估先进技术的成熟度，以便决定在计划于 2027 年前试飞的演示飞机上包含哪些技术。

目前，Team Tempest 及其合作伙伴正在通过技术演示和数字概念研究大约 60 项技术。

除了 BAE 之外，“暴风雨”团队的行业合作伙伴还包括武器制造商 MBDA 英国公司、发电厂开发商劳斯莱斯公司以及传感器和电子公司 Leonardo 英国公司。

该行业组织成立于 2018 年，当时英国政府在当年的范堡罗航展上推出了其未来作战空中战略。

目前尚不清楚该计划最新阶段究竟在研究哪些技术，但总体而言，这些技术可能包括先进超音速推进、电力生产、集成传感、激光定向能武器、集成通信系统和隐形材料等领域。

这项投资是英国政府计划在 2025 年 5 月之前为该项目投入的超过 20 亿英镑资金的一部分。

BAE系统公司在一份将于4月14日发布的声明中表示，英国“暴风雨”战斗机项目的合作伙伴将与英国国防部合作，推进对英国主权防御能力至关重要的技术，并将与日本和意大利的全球作战航空计划（GCAP）合作伙伴一起，帮助制定该作战航空平台的最终需求，该平台将于2035年之前在英国皇家空军服役。

英国正与意大利和日本积极建立合作伙伴关系，以推进全球气候行动计划 (GCAP)。

英国国防部的这项新投资承诺与英国的工作有关，尽管这项努力也将有助于塑造三国合作的局面。

英国国防大臣本·华莱士表示：“下一批用于未来作战飞机的资金将有助于融合我们与欧洲和太平洋地区国际合作伙伴的综合技术和专业知识，以便在 2035 年前交付这款世界领先的战斗机。”

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。