Saudi Arabia wants to join a coalition of Britain, Japan and Italy that wants to develop a new fighter jet. The Financial Times wrote this. The so-called Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) was established in 2022, and Japan has been particularly reluctant to allow Arab countries to join.
Riyadh’s insistence on joining GCAP caused a split in the initial coalition. England and Italy saw no problem in principle with accession, but Japan held back.
Postpone
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself made a request to join the coalition to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they met in Jedda in July. Japan lifted a ban on arms exports in 2014, but was concerned that Saudi intervention would delay the project unnecessarily. The GCAP coalition’s goal is to develop a technologically advanced fighter jet by 2035 that can also be exported.
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Saudi Arabia does have the funds to make a large contribution to the project, which is estimated at tens of billions of dollars. Additionally, Saudi Arabia could supply engineers, the Financial Times reported.
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