Edgewing has opened an engineering facility in Turin, Italy, to support development of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) combat aircraft being pursued by Italy, Japan and the UK.
The Turin operation is the first additional engineering site established by Edgewing since the company opened its joint headquarters with the GCAP Agency in Reading in 2025.
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Facilities in Japan and the UK are also planned to open in the coming months.
Edgewing, which was launched in 2025, is the joint venture responsible for the design and development of the aircraft. It is equally owned by BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd (JAIEC), and will retain design-authority responsibilities throughout the aircraft’s service life.
The company said the Turin site will employ engineers from all three partner nations. Its first group of staff includes secondees from the three shareholder companies.
Located alongside Leonardo in Turin, the new facility and its supply chain will support skilled engineering employment in the region, while contributing to the three-nation programme.
Edgewing chief executive Marco Zoff said: “Our new site in Italy is the latest step in Edgewing’s rapid growth as an organisation, as we scale up the company across our three nations. Ready to disrupt the defence industry by delivering dramatically quicker than previous generation programmes, the innovation and energy we can access here in Turin will underpin our acceleration.”
GCAP is developing a next-generation combat aircraft intended to carry out surveillance and strike missions at long range in contested airspace.
The programme envisages an aircraft with sensing, communications, AI support for pilots and stealth technologies, as well as the ability to direct uncrewed systems and other assets.
Edgewing Italy general manager Giuseppe Lupoli said: “GCAP represents the next generation of technology, and this new site represents an opportunity for many to join Edgewing and work on some of the world’s most advanced digitally-driven engineering. I look forward to welcoming colleagues from across our three partner nations to Turin as we embark on this journey together.”
Edgewing has signed international contracts worth more than €6bn with the three-nation GCAP Agency.
In July this year, a contract valued at £4.6bn ($6.1bn) was announced for the continued development of the GCAP.
