His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, 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 advanced technologies, innovation and industrial development.

On the sidelines of the exhibition, His Highness held discussions on ways to enhance defense cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, serving the common interests of the two countries and contributing to the maintenance of regional and international security, in light of the close strategic partnership between them and the role of defense cooperation as a fundamental pillar in the course of bilateral relations.

His Highness also met with a number of senior officials from the British Ministry of Defence, including UK National Armaments Director Mr. Robert Pierce, Director General for Industry, Trade and Economic Security at the UK Ministry of Defence Ms. Avril Jolliffe, and UK Senior Defence Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, British Vice Admiral Mr. Edward Algren.

As part of his meetings with representatives of the industrial sector, His Highness met with officials from a number of leading British and international companies, including BAE Systems, Eurofighter, MBDA, and Rolls-Royce. The discussions focused on 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 strengthen their long-term industrial presence in the Kingdom and actively participate in localization initiatives, noting that expanding cooperation in advanced technologies and innovation would enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the defense sectors in both Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, while cementing the extended strategic partnership between the two countries.

Participants from the industrial sector included: BAE Systems Group Chief Executive Dr. Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Group Managing Director for Air Simon Barnes, BAE Systems Country Director for Saudi Arabia Steve Clatten, Eurofighter Typhoon Chief Executive Jorge Tamarit Degenhardt, MBDA UK Managing Director Chris Allam, Rolls-Royce Director of Business Development and Future Programmes Alex Zino, and Rolls-Royce Vice President of UK Government Relations and International Relations for Defence Catherine Williams.