FARNBOROUGH AIRSHOW: Senior representatives from the Italian Ministry of Defense and Leonardo have revealed new details about the program they are developing for the UK-led Future Combat Air System (FCAS), including details about Japan’s collaboration on sensors and communication capabilities.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday at the Farnborough Air Show, Lieutenant Colonel Davide Dentamaro, of the Italian Air Force FCAS Program Office, and the Leonardo executive team confirmed that they are still in the evaluation phase at unilateral and multilateral.
“We are in discussions with our government counterparts to assess any overlapping of the respective national requirements,” Dentamaro confirmed before adding: “This is an important phase to define the requirements.”
He also suggested that the ongoing FCAS effort is “very different” from legacy efforts in European combat air, which often saw national industries battling each other in ineffectiveness. Instead, “there is total synergy between industry partners,” he said.
FCAS is a multilateral program to design a sixth-generation combat air capability. Established in 2018 by the UK Ministry of Defence, the program now includes Italy and, more recently, a team with Japan; Sweden is also closely watching the process, according to program officials this week.
However, Andrew Howard, the director of Major Air Programs for Leonardo UK, said he hopes to see differences in national requirements emerge over time.
“There will be common elements to drive efficiency, but there needs to be freedom of maneuver and freedom of action, which can be accommodated through an open architecture. It is not affordable for one country to launch this program on its own,” he said.
On July 18, the UK FCAS team – which includes the UK Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo UK and MBDA – announced that the Tempest combat air platform demonstrator, a key part of the FCAS program, will fly in the next five years.
According to Howard, the next two years will drive alignment in terms of national requirements, giving the trilateral FCAS team a 10-year window to deliver the capability.
For his part, the director of Leonardo’s FCAS, Guglielmo Maviglia, confirmed that Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan will benefit from the “new defense asset” from 2035, but also said that the consortium will try to “take advantage” of the defense market. export already in 2040.
Maviglia also described how the tactical and operational experiences generated by the Italian and British fifth-generation F-35s would be important for the development of a sixth-generation combat air platform.
“The jump of a fourth-generation fighter jet [Typhoon] to one of sixth it could be a real challenge”, he warned.
Maviglia also described how Japan has fit “seamlessly into the discussions” so far, sharing similar ambitions for the program in terms of timelines.
“The Japanese requirement is similar to that of Italy and the UK. Early talks are very encouraging,” Howard added before describing how Leonardo, in the UK and Italy, is focused on developing the Integrated System for Detection and Non-Kinetic Effects (ISANKE) and the Integrated Communications System (ICS) of the FCAS with industry partners including ELT.
“We are working together on a number of projects with Elettronica in Italy, including joint evaluation of the potential architecture of a common ISANKE and ICS. The work is complementary to the ongoing collaboration with Japan on sixth-generation sensor capabilities, an area in which Italy will be involved soon,” he said.
According to Leonardo, ISANKE is a “spider web” of capabilities that sits on the fuselage of FCAS.
“SANKE is a fully integrated network of multifunctional radio frequency and electro-optical sensing and non-kinetic effects nodes. Collectively, these nodes collect information from across the electromagnetic spectrum, which is then combined using sophisticated fusion algorithms. The result is a complete situational awareness picture, providing aircrew with an enhanced view of the battlespace and a real information advantage in combat,” a Leonardo spokesperson said after the event.
The ICS features multiple tactical communications and secure data link systems that allow information to be quickly exchanged between a formation of FCAS to take advantage of ISANKE’s fusion capabilities.
“ICS also enables FCAS to share information with the broader force set, providing an informational advantage in multi-domain operations. This is a key component of the sixth generation capability of the FCAS. The pilot will be more aware of the environment around him and other entities in the battlespace, faster and further away than ever before. This will translate into superior combat effectiveness and survivability,” the spokesperson added.
Integration may end up being the most important element of ISANKE and ICS, so Howard also described how Leonardo is still in the process of creating a digital backbone for FCAS. The delivery of a combat cloud is also planned.
“We’re looking at specific areas for deeper collaboration,” Howard said. “For example, ICS is an important area for Italian expertise and multifunctional processing should be the subject of future collaboration following a UK Ministry of Defense technology demonstration programme.”
Howard also highlighted the Letter of Agreement between the UK and Japan, signed in February, to conduct cooperative research into sensor technology for fighter aircraft.
The “Jaguar” initiative will include the development of a universal frequency sensor technology that will enable aircraft to “better detect future threats from the air, land and sea, quickly and accurately locating targets and denying surveillance technology.” operated by our adversaries,” according to a Leonardo statement at the time. (Japan’s intended role in FCAS has since expanded.)
Leonardo sources suggested the work could include the miniaturization of future radars, something the company is pursuing at a “deeper level”, company executives concluded.
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