The universal radio frequency sensor technology, known as “JAGUAR”, could enable the Armed Forces to better detect future threats from air, land and sea, quickly and accurately locating targets and denying surveillance technology operated by our adversaries.
With joint work on the project scheduled to start in April, JAGUAR is expected to create 75 jobs across the UK, including 40 highly skilled engineering jobs at Leonardo’s Edinburgh site.
Designing, building and evaluating the JAGUAR system will take around five years, involving input from Leonardo UK and Japanese industry. Two demonstrators will be built within the project, one in each country, with the work and learning shared to maximise national expertise.
This cooperative research comes after the UK and Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in December last year, enabling both nations to pursue joint technologies. In December, the two countries also announced an intention to develop a future fighter jet engine demonstrator as part of their partnership.
International partnership remains at the heart of the UK’s approach to combat air, as set out in the Combat Air Strategy published in 2018. During the next four years, the UK is investing more than £2 billion into its major national and international endeavour to design a world-leading Future Combat Air System. The work with Japan is taking place alongside the UK’s growing partnership with European nations.