Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia paid a visit to the headquarters of BAE Systems in the British city of Wharton in the county of Cumbria, during his current official visit to the United Kingdom. Upon his arrival at the company's headquarters, he was received by the Chief of Air Staff of Britain's Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, the British Military Attaché to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Brigadier Jimmy Piggott, and the CEO of BAE Systems, Dr. Charles Woodburn. During the visit, the Saudi Minister of Defense was briefed on the superior capabilities of the Typhoon aircraft and its combat systems and on an explanation about the company's future plans and strategies, including the program for future combat air capabilities, the development of air systems, and ways to strengthen the existing partnership between it and the Saudi Armed Forces, which extends for more than 50 years, during which it accomplished many achievements and successes in the fields of transferring technology and expertise to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and cooperation with the Saudi industrial sector, as these efforts culminated in assembling the first jet training aircraft, in addition to manufacturing some of its parts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which will contribute to achieving one of the most important goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in the localization of military industries. Then, the Minister of Defense visited the company's aviation systems development and design site and was briefed on a number of models of Typhoon aircraft and modern systems used in aviation. From the Saudi side, the visit was attended by Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom; the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, and a number of officials. From the British side, it was attended by a number of senior military and civilian officials.
