LONDON: BAE Systems Plc says it is speeding ahead with the development of its next-generation Tempest fighter jet, as a rival European programme is hamstrung by Franco-German squabbling.
The British defence company this week unveiled the design of a demonstrator aircraft, and said that it has already begun manufacturing the main structure, wings and tail for that jet at its site in Lancashire.
The milestone puts the test aircraft on track to fly within three years, with the final piloted supersonic plane – the first to be developed in the United Kingdom in 40 years – to be delivered by 2035, it said.
“The pace of this programme is absolutely phenomenal,” Herman Claesen, managing director for Future Combat Air Systems at BAE Systems, told reporters on a video call on Tuesday. — Bloomberg
