Airbus in talks with Saudi Arabia for military air tanker order

AIRBUS said it’s in talks to sell Saudi Arabia more A330 tanker military planes as the nation looks to boost its air force capabilities. 

The country is also considering purchasing the A400M military transport aircraft, according to Jean-Brice Dumond, head of Air Power at Airbus. “We know there is an interest in the A400M, and we will address it with the Saudi Air Force and the Ministry of Defence,” Dumond said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Defence Show that is taking place in Riyadh. 

The Kingdom already owns six Airbus A330 MRTTs, which can be used for air-to-air refuelling or be configured to carry troops, cargo and be used for medical evacuation.

The talks are being led by Airbus’s 49 per cent-owned joint venture with Saudi Arabian Military Industries, or Sami. A spokesperson for Sami didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Saudi Arabia is also poised to order more Eurofighter jets – a joint project between Airbus, BAE Systems, and Italy’s Leonardo – at the defence expo that began on Sunday and is due to run through Feb 8. Germany reversed its objection to the sale of the jets to Saudi Arabia last month. 

Separately, Saudi Arabia is also in negotiations with France’s Dassault Aviation to acquire Rafale fighter jets, and has resumed talks with the US about forging closer defence ties after a pause following the start of the Israel-Hamas war in early October. 

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Building up the defence industry has become more urgent as the country tries to bring investors, tourists and some of the world’s biggest corporations, all part of an ambitious plan to transform the Saudi economy and reduce its dependence on oil. Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s biggest defence budgets, behind the US, China, Russia and India. BLOOMBERG