UK and Saudi Arabia sign 'declaration of intent' on air combat co-operation

Britain and Saudi Arabia have signed a defence agreement with the aim of strengthening their combat air relationship and facing shared security challenges.

Ben Wallace, the UK’s defence secretary, signed the document during a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Khalid bin Salman, in Riyadh.

Mr Wallace’s trip to the kingdom provided an opportunity for him to reflect on the strength and depth of bilateral ties, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said.

The signing came after the UK and Saudi Arabia announced the Defence Co-operation Plan last December, in which both parties agreed to enhance teamwork through dialogue, education, training and capability building.

Photos of Wednesday’s meeting between Mr Wallace and Prince Khalid showed the pair signing the documents.

“It was a pleasure to meet with HRH Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Minister for Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and build on the long history of UK-Saudi defence collaboration,” Mr Wallace said.

“The Statement of Intent signed today will strengthen our Saudi-UK combat air relationship and our ability to address shared security challenges for decades to come, supporting Saudi Vision 2030 aspirations.”

The Ministry of Defence noted the “strong and long-standing defence partnership” with Riyadh in a message posted on Twitter. The MoD said joint efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region were discussed by the ministers during their talks.

The Statement of Intent will initiate a partnering easibility study to explore how Britain and Saudi Arabia can best position their combat air relationship for the future.

Mr Wallace also attended meetings with other members of the Saudi government during his three-day visit from Tuesday to Thursday.

Both sides expressed a desire to forge closer industrial collaboration, to develop key capabilities and boost prosperity in both nations, including in support of Saudi Vision 2030 objectives.

The Secretary of Defence expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia after the recent commitment of £341 million ($410 million) in aid for Ukraine, the MoD said. The package was announced during Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud’s visit to Kyiv last weekend.

In a tweet, Prince Khalid emphasised Saudi Arabia's intent to participate in the Future Combat Air System programme (FCAS), which will include joint research and development projects for future air systems.

Prince Khalid said he had signed a "declaration of KSA’s intent to participate in the Future Combat Air System programme, which will strengthen KSA’s defensive capabilities".

But defence analysts cautioned that such alliances typically take months or years to negotiate.

FCAS is an acronym widely used for next-generation fighter projects, including the British-led Tempest programme that was recently expanded to include Japan under a new framework called Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

The UK's MoD clarified the matter, saying the Statement of Intent "is distinct from the UK-IT-Japan GCAP, or FCAS programmes".

A report from the Saudi Press Agency said areas covered by the declaration included "defining a comprehensive and joint vision for the future partnership for air combat operations" and discussing partnerships that "meet the needs of the required capabilities".

It said identifying industrial participation projects and joint research and development were also included.

Plans to develop an FCAS were first announced in 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron and then German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Since then, a British-led FCAS being developed with Japan and Italy has also been announced.

The British project is billed as a “game-changing” fighter jet that will harness artificial intelligence for future combat.

The aircraft, named Tempest by the Royal Air Force, will be the most sophisticated jet in operation when it takes to the skies in 2035.

It will not have any dials in the cockpit and an in-built AI brain will allow it to remain in combat if the pilot loses consciousness.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the fighter would be at the “cutting-edge of advancements in defence technology".

It was designed to replace the Eurofighter and the Dassault Rafale with a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft from 2040.

France, Germany and Spain last year reached a deal to start the next phase of creating a fighter jet in Europe's largest defence project, which has an estimated cost of more than €100 billion ($103.4 billion).

The FCAS is intended to be in service by 2040 but has been plagued by months of disagreement between Airbus and Dassault Aviation.