BAE Systems’ UK Combat Air Demonstrator closes in on final assembly
An updated render of the UK Combat Air Demonstrator. (Image: BAE Systems)
The first render for the demonstrator was unveiled in July 2025, with BAE Systems now aiming for the start of final assembly by the end of 2026 to prepare the aircraft for first flight by 2027.
Construction of the UK Combat Air Demonstrator is officially underway at BAE Systems’ facilities in Samlesbury, Lancashire as it gathers pace towards its 2027 first flight deadline.
Shephard, alongside other defence media, visited the facilities ahead of the Farnborough Airshow to see the demonstrator aircraft currently in build. The UK Combat Air Demonstrator forms part of the wider industrial effort to develop manufacturing processes and digital engineering techniques to derisk the next-generation combat aircraft that will then be delivered through the tri-national Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
According to Tony Godbold, FCAS delivery director at BAE Systems, around two-thirds of the
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