Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is seeking to join the project to develop the sixth-generation fighter jets along with United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Japan, British daily Financial Times reported.
The fighter jet project Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is also known as Tempest. In December 2022, Japan, UK and Italy announced that they would collaborate to create a combat aircraft more advanced than the US F-35 and Eurofighter, with the latest sensors and technology.
As per the media reports, Saudi participation would likely imply a potentially large financial contribution to a project estimated to cost tens of billions of dollars. Saudi offer also includes the contribution of engineering expertise in various stages of the project.
A senior British defense source was quoted by the British daily saying that London had a strategic partnership with Riyadh, and was very keen to deepen work on the project and achieve strong progress as soon as possible.
The UK and Italy support Saudi Arabia’s request, but Japan opposes it. The three countries aim to deliver the advanced aircraft by 2035, but Japan is concerned that Saudi Arabia’s entry into the group could delay the launch.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia and UK signed a plan for defense cooperation between the two countries, with the aim of localising military industries and strengthening the defense partnership between them.
The Kingdom is working to localise military spending by strengthening and developing local military industries, and reducing dependence on imports.
Saudi Arabia’s vision for the military industries sector aims to localise 50 percent of government military spending on equipment by 2030, followed by the formation of the General Authority for Military Industries.
