GCAP: Minister Crosetto meets with Japanese and UK Defence Ministers in Tokyo

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'Italy, the UK and Japan share the same destiny and today we have laid a stone to build an important future together', Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said at today's meeting in Tokyo with the Japanese Defence Minister, Yasukazu Hamada, and the UK Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace.

“Once Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean were considered far apart areas. Today, however, the world has become smaller, crises have increased, and the situation is likely to worsen in this decade. The future of the Mediterranean depends on what happens in the Indo-Pacific and vice versa. That is why our nations must work and cooperate. Only by joining forces will we be able to counter the magnitude of the problems and challenges ahead”.

At the heart of the meeting was the strengthening of the partnerships and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), whose Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the three countries was signed on 16 December 2022. It was the result of the strong and long-standing relations between the three countries, that rest on the values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

"The GCAP," Minister Crosetto stressed, "is an industrial and technological choice, but also, first and foremost, a political choice three important nations have made to embark on a common path, so that their Armed Forces can cooperate in various fields.”

"A highly significant agreement reached at a delicate geopolitical moment," he added, pointing out that "our three nations are strengthening their cooperation in a project that will have important spin-offs in the fields of technology, innovation, research and development in aerospace, defence and security.”

The GCAP, a programme for a new sixth-generation aircraft, as the Minister reminded, will also be able to expand to other countries: 'it will bring an unprecedented set of capabilities that are crucial to maintaining global stability, and creating the necessary conditions for continued development in the defence field for decades to come'.

"The alliance between our governments and defence industries represents an example for future international collaborations," the Minister continued. He emphasised how Italy, thanks to its experience and industrial and technological expertise in the aerospace sector and in the development of military aircraft, sees the United Kingdom and Japan as the partners with whom to strengthen an equal and flexible model in what is an already solid industrial cooperation.

The Ministers also emphasised the benefits that this agreement will bring from an industrial point of view, leading to prosperity, development and increased cooperation between the respective defence industries - which already enjoy excellent relations.

There is unanimous agreement that the GCAP will contribute to the security and technological development of the three countries.

A strong partnership that will also have spin-offs in the areas of economy, security and regional stability.

The CEOs of Mitsubishi, BAE and Leonardo also attended the final part of the trilateral meeting.