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Royal Saudi Air Force Boeing F-15SA.
LONDON—Saudi Arabia is seeking full partner status as it decides what future combat aircraft program to join, with a decision possible within months.
The kingdom aims to be “an equal partner” in any sixth-generation fighter program, Maj. Gen. Hamed Alamri, director of Joint Chiefs of Staff and chairman of the Committee on Future Capabilities of the Armed Forces for the Saudi Air Force, said May 21. “Saudi Arabia seeks to become a global innovator, not just a customer,” he told an event at the Royal Aeronautical Society here.
Saudi Arabia could still decide on the path forward this year, Alamri told Aerospace DAILY, adding the country has several options on how to progress.
Coupled with that decision is one on a fighter procurement for a system to be introduced more near term, he said. Saudi Arabia needs to replace some of its aging fighters, including older Boeing F-15s. The country is in talks with France, the UK and the U.S. about buying fighters to replace those it plans to phase out. Candidates for the near-term purchase include the Boeing F-15EX, Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon. The country is also looking to upgrade its existing Typhoons so they will more seamlessly lead into the sixth-generation fighter.
Alamri said the decision on the near-term purchase is likely to be closely linked to the longer-term platform decision. Saudi’s timeline for a sixth-generation fighter to be fielded sometime after 2040 would support several ongoing efforts, he noted.
The country, he said, is a strong partner for the development of a future fighter given its access to resources, its geopolitical importance and a young workforce. Some potential partners have expressed concern, though, that Saudi Arabia may lack the technical prowess to fully support such an ambitious undertaking.
Saudi Arabia has embarked on an aggressive push to upgrade its defense industrial capacity, with a target of spending about half the country’s military budget locally. The sixth-generation fighter program is a central part of realizing that ambition.
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The US's NGAD program is a non-starter, it is unlikely to be offered for export, let alone allow tech transfer and foreign assembly.
FCAS, France and Germany are at loggerheads over design leadership, it took them a year to resolve differences over the FCS. And let us not forget the German attitude to weapons exports! You can buy the nice toys but use them and you get cut off from all German produced spares.
GCAP, the UK has a long history of weapons sales to the Kingdom, as do the Italians with both Tornado and Typhoon, the big problem is the lack of a high tech infrastructure in the kingdom.
While the Saudis' have money and a young educated workforce, they do not (to my knowledge) have any of the advanced tech to bring to the design table.