New site to host hundreds of engineers working on the Italy-Japan-UK Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)
The 9th October, international aerospace company Edgewing opened an important new facility in Turin, Italy. The site will sustain thousands of highly skilled engineering jobs in the region, with its workforce and supply chain contributing to the development of the next-generation combat aircraft for Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
The new fighter will feature cutting-edge sensing and communications, AI support for pilots and the latest stealth technology. It will be able to contribute directly to the mission, delivering surveillance and strike missions at long-range in heavily contested airspace, as well as contributing to the strategic operating picture and directing drones and other assets in the battle as a flying ‘team captain’.
Edgewing is the joint venture company established by the partner nations’ aerospace industries to design and deliver the GCAP aircraft.
Turin is the first additional Edgewing site to open for engineering activities since the joint GCAP Agency-Edgewing headquarters was established in Reading, UK, in 2025. It is the first of three planned facilities, with Japan and the UK to open in coming months. All three Edgewing global sites will play the same roles, as engineering hubs contributing to the delivery of the programme.
The new site will be home to engineers from all three nations, with its initial cohort comprising secondees from Edgewing’s three partner companies. Some secondees will have moved their lives and families from as far away as 10,000 kilometres from Japan to Turin to join the endeavour, representing the huge excitement underpinning the programme.
Marco Zoff, CEO of Edgewing said: “Our new site in Italy is the latest step in Edgewing’s rapid growth as an organisation, as we scale up the company across our three nations. Ready to disrupt the defence industry by delivering dramatically quicker than previous generation programmes, the innovation and energy we can access here in Turin will underpin our acceleration.”
Giuseppe Lupoli, General Manager of Edgewing in Italy, said: “GCAP represents the next generation of technology, and this new site represents an opportunity for many to join Edgewing and work on some of the world’s most advanced digitally-driven engineering. I look forward to welcoming colleagues from across our three partner nations to Turin as we embark on this journey together.”
Lorenzo Mariani, CEO and General Manager of Leonardo, said: “GCAP will ensure technological sovereignty for generations to come and I am proud that hundreds of engineers here in Turin, and thousands more around the country, will contribute to its success. Leonardo is proud to support Edgewing as the programme continues to drive technological development and long-term economic growth.”
Edgewing launched in 2025 as the industrial lead and design authority for the GCAP aircraft and this year signed international contracts worth more than €6Bn with the three-nation GCAP Agency. As it works to deliver the programme’s advanced concept and assessment phase, Edgewing is rapidly scaling, bringing work together from the three national programmes and ensuring that the digital capabilities are in place to deliver the upcoming design and development phase.
In Italy, Edgewing has located its new site alongside Leonardo, Italy’s national defence champion. Leonardo is one of the three equal owners of Edgewing, alongside Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co (JAIEC) and the UK’s BAE Systems. Leonardo has a proud history of combat air technology research and development in Turin that Edgewing will be able to draw on in its delivery of the programme.
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