Britain and India will strengthen their defence and security ties, including partnering to develop combat jet technology, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced during a visit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday.
A joint statement issued at the end of bilateral talks between Modi and Jonhson stated, “Both sides noted cooperation in strategic collaboration including modern fighter aircraft and Jet Engine Advanced Core Technology.”
Johnson said the defence cooperation pact would boost procurement across several areas but offered few details during a press conference wrapping up the two-day visit to India.Johnson said the two countries would seek closer defence procurement “to meet threats across land, sea and air, space and cyber, including partnering on new fighter jet technology [and] maritime technologies to detect and respond to threats in the oceans.” The reference to a fighter technology partnership refers to Britain"s efforts to collaborate with India on its Tempest Future Combat Air System (TEMPEST) program.The British program, launched in 2018, has been the subject of discussions with India as part of a larger push to attract international partners to develop a combat jet with an in-service date of around the middle of the next decade. Britain is already collaborating on technology development with Italy and Sweden and has recently agreed to collaborate with Japan on sensor and propulsion systems.
BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, MBDA and Saab are leading the early phases of the technology development program. TurDef has announced that Turkish President of Defence Industries (SSB) Profesor İsmail Demir is expected to visit United Kingdon in May. Although the date is knot fixed yet, it is known that he will be meeting with Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems, the two contractors for the TEMPEST Program.
