Today the Defence Secretary has welcomed Qatar’s intent to proceed
with the purchase of Typhoon aircraft and the further strengthening
of the United Kingdom’s defence relationship with the State of
Qatar.
During a visit to the Gulf state today, Sir and his Qatari
counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah, signed a Statement
of Intent concerning Qatar’s proposed purchase of 24 Typhoon
aircraft.
The UK and Qatar share a close and longstanding Defence
relationship, and today’s Statement of Intent further reinforces
this, deepening military cooperation between the two, and the
opportunity to further enhance the security of all partners in
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Defence Secretary Sir said:
After a number of years of negotiations between our two
countries, I am delighted to have been able to sign today with
Qatar’s Defence Minister, this Statement of Intent on the
purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft by Qatar.
This will be the first major defence contract with Qatar, one of
the UK’s strategic partners. This is an important moment in our
defence relationship and the basis for even closer defence
co-operation between our two countries. We also hope that this
will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf
allies and enhance Typhoon interoperability across the GCC.
The security of the GCC, of all Gulf countries, is critical to
the UK’s own security.
The UK and Qatar share mutual Defence interests, including
countering violent extremism, and ensuring peace and stability in
the region.
Not only will the purchase of Typhoon aircraft further strengthen
this strong bilateral relationship, it will benefit Qatar’s
military capability, and increase security co-operation and
interoperability between the UK and Qatar and other GCC Typhoon
partners.
The Typhoon is a multi-role combat aircraft that has long-term
potential to be at the forefront of air power for many years, and
today’s Statement of Intent demonstrates continued confidence in
Typhoon and British manufacturing.
In addition to supporting Royal Air Force operations protecting
the UK in the skies above Britain and globally, the Typhoon has
already been purchased by eight nations around the world.
