Partnerships Key as Tempest Begins To Take Shape

The UK is forging ties with Sweden, Italy and, increasingly, Japan as development of the Tempest and Future Combat Air System progresses.

While current artwork suggests Tempest will look as shown (with Typhoon for reference), the reality might be different. (Photo: BAE Systems)

By Jon Lake

July 12, 2022

The twin-tailed, delta-winged, “pelicanesque” configuration of the Tempest sixth-generation manned fighter concept has become familiar from numerous CGI artworks and from the presence of a full-scale mockup at various air and trade shows. However, there remains a very real possibility that the actual manned fighter that will form the cornerstone of the Tempest project could look nothing like this.

The final size, shape, and configuration of the aircraft will depend on decisions still not made. Only when Team Tempest—consisting of project leader and integrator BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, MBDA, and the Royal Air Force—decides on competing and sometimes contradictory priorities can it determine precisely which balance of complex compromises will produce an aircraft best suited to the overall requirement. Those decisions will have to consider the performance and capabilities of the range of adjuncts and effectors that also form elements of the overall Future Combat Air System, since the Tempest core platform has always been considered one element in a wider system of systems.

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