‘Madness’: Italy’s Crosetto slams British secrecy on GCAP fighter jet

ROME — Italy’s defense minister has claimed the U.K. is not doing enough to share its cutting-edge technology with its partners on the tri-nation GCAP fighter program and called the alleged British secrecy “madness.”

Guido Crosetto warned that as long at the U.K. refrained from sharing top tech with its Italian and Japanese partners on the sixth-generation jet program it risked benefiting adversaries around the world.

“It’s a huge favor to the Russians and the Chinese,” the minister told Defense News.

Crosetto’s accusation was the second time he has singled out the U.K. for holding back on GCAP tech-sharing.

In April 2025 he told Reuters the U.K. needed to bring down the “barriers of selfishness.”

He said at the time, “Italy has broken them down totally, Japan almost totally. It seems to me that the U.K. is much more reluctant to do this, and that’s a mistake because selfishness is the worst enemy of nations.”

Asked this week by Defense News if he had changed his mind about the U.K.’s alleged reluctance to share technology, he said nothing had changed.

“They don’t want to do it,” Crosetto said, adding, “At a moment like this, not sharing technology with allies is madness.”

Crosetto said that he was trying to set an example in discussions with Leonardo, the Italian firm leading Italy’s contribution to the jet.

“I have ordered Leonardo to share its technology, let’s see if the others follow. That way we take the first step,” he said.

The Italian minister’s comments come as progress on GCAP appeared to be smooth, particularly in comparison with the French-German-Spanish FCAS fighter program, which is bogged down in work share rows.

In the U.K., a tri-nation GCAP government office is now working closely with industrial consortia handling sensors, propulsion and integration, with the aim of getting the plane delivered by 2035.

One other blip this month has been Italy’s announcement that the bill it is facing for designing and developing the jet has risen from a forecast €6 billion ($7.1 billion) in 2021 to €18.6 billion, triggering criticism from Italian opposition parties.

Nevertheless, in a meeting this month between Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Japanese prime minister Takaichi Sanae, the two leaders “expressed satisfaction for the progress of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利国防部长声称，英国在与三国合作的GCAP战斗机项目伙伴分享其尖端技术方面做得不够，并称英国所谓的保密行为是“疯狂的”。

圭多·克罗塞托警告说，只要英国不与意大利和日本合作伙伴分享第六代喷气式飞机项目的顶尖技术，就有可能让世界各地的对手受益。

“这对俄罗斯人和中国来说是莫大的恩惠，”这位部长告诉《防务新闻》。

这是克罗塞托第二次指责英国在GCAP技术共享方面有所保留。

2025 年 4 月，他告诉路透社，英国需要打破“自私的壁垒”。

他当时说：“意大利已经彻底摧毁了它们，日本也几乎彻底摧毁了它们。在我看来，英国更不愿意这样做，这是一个错误，因为自私是国家最大的敌人。”

本周，《防务新闻》问他是否改变了对英国据称不愿分享技术的看法，他表示没有任何改变。

克罗塞托说：“他们不想这样做。”他补充道：“在这样的时刻，不与盟友分享技术是疯狂的。”

克罗塞托表示，他试图在与莱昂纳多公司（意大利公司，负责意大利对该喷气式飞机的贡献）的讨论中树立榜样。

“我已经命令莱昂纳多公司分享其技术，看看其他公司是否会效仿。这样我们就迈出了第一步，”他说。

意大利部长发表上述评论之际，GCAP项目的进展似乎进展顺利，尤其是与陷入工作分配纠纷的法德西联合FCAS战斗机项目相比。

在英国，一个由三国组成的GCAP政府办公室目前正与负责传感器、推进系统和集成的工业联盟密切合作，目标是在2035年之前交付该飞机。

本月另一件小插曲是意大利宣布，其为设计和开发这款喷气式飞机而面临的费用已从 2021 年预计的 60 亿欧元（71 亿美元）增加到 186 亿欧元，这引发了意大利反对党的批评。

不过，在本月意大利总理乔治亚·梅洛尼和日本首相早苗隆一的会晤中，两位领导人“对全球作战空中计划（GCAP）的进展表示满意”。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。