The head of Italian defence group Leonardo has said he would be “open to” Saudi Arabia joining a tri-national project to build an advanced fighter jet if Britain decides to reduce its commitment.
Leonardo chief executive Roberto Cingolani said he would be “personally very open” to it, “especially if there were some reallocation of resources” after the UK’s new Labour government completes its defence spending review.
“Having a fourth partner could be very convenient for the consortium [and] in that case it could of course be Saudi Arabia,” Cingolani told the Financial Times at the Farnborough air show.
Cingolani’s comments come amid speculation that Labour may reduce its commitment to the Global Combat Air Programme with Italy and Japan as it conducts its defence policy review. During a visit to the show on Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stressed the importance of the programme but also noted that the review was not yet complete.
The UK, Italy and Japan signed an international treaty last year to set up GCAP, merging their separate next generation fighter projects into one to address increasing threats from China and Russia. Britain’s biggest defence companies, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, are working together alongside industrial partners Leonardo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan on the programme, which aims to fly an aircraft by 2035.
The FT disclosed last year that Saudi Arabia, which has a long-standing defence relationship with the UK and is a big purchaser of Eurofighter Typhoon jets, was keen to join the project. The kingdom’s interest, however, sparked concern that the already-tight deadline to have a jet flying by 2035 could be at risk.
Cingolani said that Saudi Arabia could bring both industrial capability and some fresh labour resources as a potential partner.
Industry analysts believe the kingdom could yet secure a partnership role even if the UK does not reduce its support. Bringing Riyadh on board could open up other Middle East countries as potential export markets. Allowing Saudi Arabia into the programme could also pave the way for a new order of Typhoon jets from the UK, which has been in talks with Riyadh over the sale of another 48 aircraft.
The companies are currently trying to finalise the “industrial construct” that will underpin GCAP. There had been an expectation that an outline agreement could be announced at Farnborough, but wrangling over issues such as ownership of intellectual property had slowed progress, according to several people familiar with the talks.
There has also been debate about individual companies’ core competencies — designed to define manufacturing capabilities and workshare. Italy in particular was concerned about ensuring it would have an equal share, these people said.
Cingolani said that he was “not yet” happy about how talks had gone but said they were “progressing in that direction”.
Leonardo’s expertise lies in advanced defence electronics and “system of systems” technology that will allow the fighter jets to link and interconnect with adjunct aircraft.
Cingolani said it was still too early to talk about the exact workshare split as the project was not yet “mature enough”.
“We are not yet mature to talk in terms of workshare but generally speaking we are trying to find an agreement to understand who makes what,” he said.
Defence industry executives at the show privately played down the suggestion that the UK could cancel the programme.
Speaking separately, Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgiç said that while the UK defence review made sense, the importance of GCAP should not be overlooked, both in terms of the capabilities it offered but also in terms of its industrial footprint. Rolls-Royce already has 1,000 people working on the project.
