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Saudi Ambassador to UK Visits Farnborough Airshow

Date of publication: July 23, 2026 07:27 KSA

His Highness Discusses Strengthening Saudi-British Defense Cooperation

His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, yesterday visited the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, held in the United Kingdom, where he met with a number of senior British officials and leaders of leading British and international companies in the defense, aviation, and space sectors to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the fields of advanced technologies, innovation, and industrial development.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, His Highness held discussions that addressed ways to advance defense cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, serving the common interests of the two countries and contributing to the preservation of regional and international security, in light of the close strategic partnership between the two countries and the fundamental role of defense cooperation in the course of bilateral relations.

His Highness met with a number of senior officials from the British Ministry of Defence, including the British National Armaments Director Mr. Robert Pierce, the Director General for Industry, Trade and Economic Security at the British Ministry of Defence Ms. Avril Jolliffe, and the British Senior Defence Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, British Vice Admiral Mr. Edward Algren. Within the framework of his meetings with representatives of the industrial sector, His Highness met with officials of a number of leading British and international companies, including BAE Systems, Eurofighter, MBDA, and Rolls-Royce, where the discussions focused on areas of technology exchange, research and innovation, industrial development, and capacity building, supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and enhancing industrial partnerships between the two sides. During the meetings, existing areas of cooperation between the two sides were reviewed, prospects for their development were discussed, and new paths for cooperation were identified in line with the renewed priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in the fields of defense and advanced industries. His Highness affirmed the Kingdom's commitment to encouraging British companies to enhance their long-term industrial presence in the Kingdom and to actively participate in localization initiatives, noting that expanding cooperation in advanced technologies and innovation would enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the defense sectors of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, in addition to consolidating the longstanding strategic partnership between the two countries. Participating in the meetings from the industrial sector were the Chief Executive Officer of BAE Systems, Dr. Charles Woodburn; the Managing Director of BAE Systems' Air sector, Simon Barnes; the Managing Director of BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia, Steve Clatten; the Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Typhoon, Jorge Tamarit Degenhart; the Managing Director of MBDA UK, Chris Allam; the Director of Business Development and Future Programs at Rolls-Royce, Alex Zeno; and the Vice President of Government Relations UK and International Relations Defence at Rolls-Royce, Catherine Williams.