Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Italian and (b) Japanese counterparts on the potential entry of Saudi Arabia into the Global Combat Air Programme.

The UK has regular conversation with our trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partners on a range of issues. All three GCAP nations have highlighted our openness to working with other nations through this programme, while keeping us on course for 2035 In Service Delivery. With the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we signed a Statement of Intent on the 1 March 2023, launching a Partnering Feasibility Study to define the future of our historic Combat Air partnership.