TURIN, Italy — The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a joint initiative between Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, has opened its first national engineering site in Turin, Italy, to support the development of its next-generation fighter aircraft. The programme aims to bring the aircraft into operational service from 2035.
Operating as Edgewing Italia, the facility will coordinate Italy’s contribution and connect national engineering activities with Edgewing, the international joint venture responsible for the aircraft’s design and development. At full capacity, Edgewing Italia is expected to employ around 1,000 professionals, with more than 1,000 additional Leonardo employees supporting partner-company activities, mainly at Turin and the nearby Caselle site.
£4.6 Billion Contract Supports Development
On July 3, 2026, the GCAP Agency awarded Edgewing a £4.6 billion contract, jointly funded by the three partner nations. The 18-month agreement covers completion of the advanced analysis and concept phase before detailed design and development. It follows an earlier £686 million contract awarded in April 2026. Edgewing has signed international contracts worth more than €6 billion with the GCAP Agency this year.
Launched in 2022, GCAP is overseen by the GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO) through the GCAP Agency. Edgewing is equally owned by Italy’s Leonardo, the UK’s BAE Systems and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd. (JAIEC), each holding a 33.3% stake. Headquartered in Reading, England, the company is led by Chairman Herman Claesen and CEO Marco Zoff.
Edgewing will retain design authority throughout the aircraft’s lifecycle, expected to extend beyond 2070, while national industries and their supply chains will handle production and final assembly.
Turin’s Aerospace Industry Supports GCAP
Turin was selected for its established aerospace and engineering industry. Leonardo employs around 5,200 people in Piedmont, including 2,200 at Caselle and 1,800 in Turin, while approximately 1,100 employees are associated with the Thales Alenia Space joint venture. Caselle currently handles final assembly of the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The regional aerospace ecosystem supports more than 14,500 direct, indirect and induced jobs and includes around 420 suppliers, 87% of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These suppliers received approximately €740 million in orders in 2025, while Leonardo’s R&D investment accounts for 9.7% of total corporate research and development spending in the region.
Italy’s wider GCAP industrial team includes Avio Aero, Elettronica and MBDA Italia, alongside universities, research centres, SMEs and start-ups.
The Turin facility is the first additional Edgewing engineering site to open since the joint GCAP Agency–Edgewing headquarters was established in Reading in 2025. It is the first of three planned national hubs, with corresponding facilities in Japan and the UK expected to open in the coming months. Engineers from all three countries will work at the Turin site, initially including personnel seconded from Leonardo, BAE Systems and JAIEC.
Five-Domain Combat System
The GCAP fighter is being designed as a digitally connected core platform within a hub-and-spoke architecture covering five domains: air, land, sea, space and cyber. It will connect with other crewed and uncrewed systems, supported by command-and-control and communications infrastructure using artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputing to coordinate missions.
Leonardo CEO and General Manager Lorenzo Mariani said GCAP would strengthen technological sovereignty while supporting innovation, skilled employment and long-term economic growth across the partner nations. He described the programme as one of the most challenging and forward-looking initiatives in the aerospace, defence and security sector, adding that it would contribute to a safer and more prosperous future for Italy, Japan and the UK.
Edgewing CEO Marco Zoff said the Turin site was part of the company’s expansion across the three countries. Giuseppe Lupoli, head of Edgewing’s Italian operations, highlighted opportunities for engineers to work on advanced digital engineering.
The inauguration was attended by senior representatives of the partner nations, including the Japanese and British ambassadors to Italy and officials from Italy’s National Armaments Directorate. The new hub strengthens Italy’s role in GCAP as the three countries continue work towards the planned 2035 operational entry date.
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