(Alliance News) - The UK has green-lit a plan to build a new multibillion-pound fighter jet with Italy and Japan, the Financial Times reported Friday.

Ministers approved of the Global Combat Air Programme at a meeting on Tuesday, according to several people familiar with the decision, the FT said.

A formal announcement is anticipated in the coming weeks.

GCAP merges Japan's F-X programme with the UK and Italy's Tempest project, with the aim to deliver a supersonic jet by 2035.

London-based BAE Systems PLC and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC work alongside Rome-based Leonardo Spa and Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd on the programme.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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