“For me, technology comes first. After defining the activities to be carried out and the players who will manage them, it will be possible to organise the allocation of resources among the partners involved”. These are the words of Roberto Cingolani in the interview to the Nikkei newspaper, dedicated to an analysis of GCAP, the international collaboration programme involving Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan for the development of a new-generation aircraft system by 2035.
Considering work and investment division, Leonardo's CEO explains his appreciation for an equal division scheme. According to Cingolani, the competence assessment will determine the details of the workshare in the next few months.
The air system will include a core platform, the next-generation fighter, connected to other, crewed and uncrewed, peripheral systems, plus a series of advanced sensors and data systems connected via artificial intelligence and cloud architecture. Roberto Cingolani emphasises that “there will be several different platforms, according to the needs of each armed force, and I'm sure the partners will have to share and to distribute the duty in the development.”