Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty said he discussed Japan’s Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, during a meeting in Tokyo.

McGuinty told reporters that Ottawa is “interested in learning more” about the programme and would take the information back to his team to assess it. He described GCAP as a “promising initiative.”

GCAP is a next-generation fighter programme launched in 2022 by the UK, Italy, and Japan. It aims to field a next-generation stealth fighter around 2035, alongside related collaborative combat drones and advanced data-sharing capabilities.

The Reuters report said this would be the first time a senior Canadian official spoke publicly about Canada’s interest in GCAP. Canada’s potential involvement would require agreement from the programme’s three founding partners.