Future Combat Air System digital strategy: briefing

Chief Digital and Information Officer for the RAF’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS) Programme, Air Cdre John Fortune will brief techUK members on the digital vision for FCAS, including opportunities and challenges this presents for the MOD and industry partners.

Event overview

FCAS is the UK’s sixth-generation combat air capability, based around a system of systems (SoS) approach to provide a transformative combat air capability integrated across the battlespace.

The SoS approach consists of the Core Platform, Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACPs), Effectors (e.g. next generation weapons) and a broader digital enterprise which must interoperate with multiple assets across the wider UK environment and with partners and allies.

Among these capabilities is a next-generation fighter jet that is being delivered by the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral collaboration between the UK, Japan and Italy.

Topics covered

John will cover:

• The Digital Strategy for FCAS including how digital is revolutionising Combat Air - how we design, build and fight in a highly advanced and complex digital age

• How the Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to achieve military advantage through an adaptable FCAS digital environment to provide assured information and data dynamically across the programme and operations

• Integration of the GCAP digital ecosystem, UK specific elements, and partners and allies’ digital systems into the FCAS digital environment

• Opportunities and challenges that both industry and MOD face in achieving the digital vision for FCAS