Ministry of Defence awards £650m to firms working on Tempest fighter jet

The Ministry of Defence has awarded £650m to manufacturers working on its Tempest fighter jet, in the latest sign that the UK is pushing forward with the aim of producing the aircraft by 2035.

The companies who will receive the money are led by manufacturer BAE Systems, jet engine maker Rolls-Royce, and the UK arms of Italy’s Leonardo and European missile-maker MBDA.

The UK confirmed last December that it would work with Italy and Japan on the project, when the latter formally joined the programme after protracted negotiations.

The Tempest programme is seen as a key part of the UK’s plans for defence spending. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put pressure on the government to increase investment in defence, even as it argues that it is unable to raise spending in other areas such as junior doctors’ pay or support for companies struggling with high energy bills.

The new contract represents the largest slice so far formally assigned of the £2bn to which the UK government has already committed. About £1bn has been spent so far, although the final project is likely to cost tens of billions of pounds between the three partner countries. There are already more than 2,800 people working at the UK partners on Tempest.

The project is racing against a rival effort by France, Germany and Spain to build their own, separate fighter. The three countries agreed to start the next stage of their future combat air system in November.

The UK last summer said the first demonstrator Tempest aircraft would fly “within the next five years”, setting an ambitious timeline for the project that will eventually replace the Typhoon fighter, which is also built by BAE Systems. The crewed fighter jet is expected to be accompanied by drones connected by sophisticated communications technology.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said the latest money “will help fuse the combined technologies and expertise we have with our international partners” to build a “world-leading fighter jet by 2035”.

Other countries have also expressed interest in joining the programme, which has been described as an ambitious undertaking for the UK.

Sweden worked on some initial studies on the programme, but it is not a formal partner. Saudi Arabia’s defence minister sparked confusion last month, after a meeting with Wallace, by tweeting that the country intended to participate.

However, the UK has since said Saudi Arabia is not involved in Tempest, but that the two countries were looking to collaborate on air combat in the future.

Any weapons deal would probably be controversial because of the Saudi government’s record on human rights, including the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The US Central Intelligence Agency in 2021 concluded that Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, had ordered the murder.