A Eurofighter Typhoon in service with the Spanish Air Force flies over Kleine-Brogel, Belgium, in September 2023. The GCAP program now has all the same participants as the Eurofighter program at the start of the century. (Shutterstock/VanderWolf Images)

Europe’s Sixth-Generation Fighter Contract Could Come Soon

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The death of the Franco-German FCAS program last week could boost the competing GCAP, effectively transforming the resulting sixth-gen fighter jet into a second Eurofighter.

It has been nearly 18 months since Boeing was first awarded the contract to produce the F-47, the manned sixth-generation fighter that is the centerpiece of the United States Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Current plans call for the F-47 to enter service in the mid-to-late 2030s.

The F-47 isn’t the only next-generation manned or optionally-manned fighter now in development, however. China is actively working on its J-36 sixth-gen fighter, with a prototype being spotted multiple times to date according to posts on social media—which, if true, would put the Chinese aircraft well ahead of the American one’s schedule.

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© The National Interest