The Prime Ministers of Britain and Japan announced a technological partnership aimed at enhancing national security and creating job opportunities, and pledged to accelerate the pace of work on developing a new generation fighter aircraft within the “Global Air Combat Program” initiative.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with her British counterpart, Keir Starmer, in London today, along with a group of business leaders, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in areas including technology, green energy, and defense.
In addition to announcing agreements totaling 18 billion pounds ($24 billion) in the fields of infrastructure, financial services and wind energy, Takaichi said that close security relations form the basis of the relationship between the two countries.
She added: “We have reached a decision to accelerate progress in the global air combat program, which represents the cornerstone of our security cooperation,” according to what was reported by the “Reuters” news agency.
The program aims to build a next-generation fighter that will be developed through a joint project between the British company BAE Systems, the Italian company Leonardo, and the Japanese company Japan Aircraft Industrial Engineering, which is supported by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Starmer’s government, which is locked in a dispute over the need to increase defense spending, announced that the two leaders would confirm their joint commitment to the project and discuss the launch of its next phase, with an international contract signed by the end of the month.
Starmer, who may face a challenge for the Labor leadership in the coming months, and Takaichi announced a range of projects that they said would help deepen cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, space, quantum computing and cyber security.
