UK denies Saudi Arabian announcement on joining Future Combat Air System

Saudi Arabia and the UK are to further the defence aviation co-operation that has seen the former operate a number of the latter's combat aircraft types, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon. However, while the Saudi defence minister said that this would see his country join the UK in its FCAS effort, the UK MoD has said this is not the case, and that the two are instead pursuing “a partnering feasibility study” to look at future co-operation. (BAE Systems)

The United Kingdom has said that Saudi Arabia is not joining its Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, but is instead pursuing “a partnering feasibility study” to look at future co-operation.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued its statement following an announcement made by Saudi Arabian Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, in which he said a declaration of intent (DOI) had been signed with his UK counterpart, Ben Wallace, to join FCAS.

“We signed a declaration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's [KSA's] intent to participate in the Future Combat Air System programme, which will strengthen KSA's defensive capabilities through a comprehensive partnership that includes joint production and research and development projects for future air systems,” bin Salman tweeted from his official account on 1 March.

From bin Salman's announcement, it was not possible to discern the scope or scale of the Saudi Arabian and UK partnership – whether it intended to partner solely on FCAS as Sweden has done, or whether it intended to partner on associated Tempest/Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) efforts alongside Italy and Japan.

The MoD was not available to immediately provide comment or clarification, but a few hours later