Saudi Arabia wants to join air combat program with Britain, Italy & Japan: The Guardian
According to the UK The Guardian newspaper, Saudi Arabia has asked Britain, Japan, and Italy to be full partners in their joint effort to build the next generation of fighter jets, supported by the British government.
Companies from Britain, Japan, and Italy are collaborating to build new fighters and other systems such as drones as part of the Global Air Combat Program (GCAP), also known as Tempest, which aims to deliver the first aircraft by 2035, a tight turnaround.
The Guardian report added that Saudi Arabia could be attractive to partners in addition to the program because it could share billions of pounds in the costs of one of the world’s biggest defense spenders, but it could cause tensions between them.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the UK’s strategic partnerships and the UK Defense Force wants to deepen work on the global call to tackle poverty… We see Saudi Arabia as an important partner in the combat program and are committed to ensuring the quickest possible success.” UK Defense source said.
One Middle East analyst explained that Saudi Arabia has recently been trying to become less dependent on the United States for weapons and is trying to build a domestic arms industry.
According to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia spent 6.6 percent of its GDP on its armed forces in 2021, compared to Britain’s 2.2 percent, Italy’s 1.5 percent, and Japan’s 1.1 percent.
