GCAP Fighter Programme in Focus as Italy’s Crosetto and UK’s Streeting Hold Talks in Paris
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting placed the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) at the centre of bilateral talks held in Paris on Monday, 26 October 2026, on the margins of a meeting of E5 defence ministers. Italy’s Ministry of Defence said on its official X account that Crosetto described the conversation as “constructive and cordial” and stressed that effective information sharing is essential if the sixth-generation fighter programme is to stay on schedule.
- Who: Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting
- Where and when: Paris, 26 October 2026, on the sidelines of the E5 defence ministers’ meeting
- Main topic: the GCAP sixth-generation combat aircraft developed by the UK, Italy and Japan
- Key message: effective information sharing is a precondition for joint work and for meeting programme timelines
- Crosetto said GCAP is attracting the attention of other potential partners
Crosetto: GCAP is a strategic choice, not just an industrial programme
According to the statement released by the Italian ministry, the two ministers reaffirmed their shared will to strengthen strategic defence cooperation, building on what Crosetto called the deep friendship and solid relations between the two countries.
Crosetto said particular attention was given to GCAP, which he described as much more than an industrial and technological programme to develop a sixth-generation combat aircraft. He called it a strategic choice for the future security and competitiveness of the partner nations, adding that the programme is drawing interest from other potential partners. He did not name any countries.
Information sharing flagged as a condition for success
The most pointed element of the statement concerned data and technology exchange. Crosetto said it is fundamental to guarantee effective sharing of information, which he called an essential condition for developing joint activities and respecting the programme’s timetable. The remark signals that Rome sees transparency among partners as a key risk area as GCAP moves deeper into design and development work.
A first high-level contact on GCAP with the new UK Defence Secretary
The meeting is one of the first GCAP-focused exchanges between Crosetto and Streeting, who recently took over the UK defence portfolio. GCAP brings together the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan in a programme that aims to field a new-generation fighter around 2035. The effort is managed by an intergovernmental organisation, GIGO, headquartered in the UK, while industrial work is led by the Edgewing joint venture formed by BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan’s JAIEC.
The bilateral contact took place alongside the E5 ministerial in Paris, which brought together the defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom to discuss support for Ukraine and wider European security.
Featured image: Jack Eckersley / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
