One option is to forge closer ties with GCAP, but some of the three existing members, including Japan, are worried that bringing in Germany could delay the project, which aims to bring the aircraft into service by 2035.

There is also concern that adding another member would dilute the amount of work being done by companies from the three original countries, something Streeting said he was aware of. German officials also worry that Germany would have too little influence over a program that is already underway. 

Streeting stressed that allowing in new GCAP members would have to be a “shared decision” with Italy and Japan, adding he was conscious of “some of the risks around timescales for delivery.”

Asked about potential delays to GCAP, Streeting said: “One of the things I’m keen to do is to try and accelerate the program and look right across the program delivery timetable which bits we can try and truncate.”

He added that the long development time for the GCAP project exemplified frustrations with the defense industry across a range of other programs that are “shared by defense ministers across NATO.”

The European defense industry is pressing for governments to issue long-term contracts, which would lower the risk they face in making large investments to set up new production.