Saudi Arabia sets sights on British military jewel

Oil pumps have long dotted the desert landscape of Saudi Arabia, but they could soon be joined by a host of factories.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to make the country the manufacturing powerhouse of the Gulf as it moves away from oil and gas.

Saudi Arabia’s $2tn heir to the throne wants to boost industrial exports to $148bn (£116bn) by 2030, tripling the number of factories to 36,000 by 2035, which will produce everything. from warships to cars.

So far, it has invested in Lucid, a US-based electric carmaker that plans to build a factory in the country, while also planning a joint venture with Navantia, the Spanish state-owned warship builder.

Now, he has his sights set on another lucrative, albeit expensive and notoriously complex market: fighter jets.

Last week it was announced that the controversial ruler plans to visit the UK in the autumnwhich came after a flurry of speculation that Saudi Arabia would join one of Britain’s biggest military projects.

Downing Street reportedly wants the Kingdom to be part of the £72bn Tempest programme, initially an Anglo-Italian effort that Japan joined last year.

Saudi’s deep pockets will be welcome, but industry experts are worried about the nation’s technological offerings, as well as its political baggage.

The Tempest project aims to put a sixth-generation fighter aircraft into service in the middle of the next decade, replacing the Eurofighter Typhoon.

In particular, Arabia reportedly wants to become a formal partner in the program rather than just buy the finished product as a customer, as it has done with the Typhoon.

any society will require a large capital investmentBut it will secure new local Saudi jobs and a hand in Tempest’s design, providing the technological expertise the ruler craves.