UK ambitions suffer blow as UAE rejects jet deal

Britain has missed out on a multi-billion pound deal to sell 60 Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the Persian Gulf state quit talks to buy the aircraft.

On Thursday, British multinational defence, security and aerospace company BAE Systems announced that the UAE has decided not to proceed with the contract worth an estimated value of £6 billion.

“BAE Systems and the UK Government have been in discussions with the Government of the United Arab Emirates regarding a range of defence and security capabilities including the potential supply of Typhoon aircraft. The UAE have advised that they have elected not to proceed with these proposals at this time,” the UK defence firm said in a statement.

BAE Systems added, “Recognizing the risk, scale and complexity of such a transaction, the group had not built this prospect into its planning assumptions.”

Meanwhile, a British government spokesman has said that the UAE decision was in no way related to Britain’s “no” vote on military intervention in Syria.

“This was a commercial decision. It was always going to be a difficult deal to do. And as BAE have said, it was an exciting prospect but not part of their business plan,” he stated.

The spokesman further noted, “We continue to have a strong bilateral relationship with the UAE that delivers jobs and growth in both countries.”

The development is an embarrassment for British Prime Minister David Cameron, who personally intervened to seal the jet deal and on a visit to Dubai last month said Britain was “in the running” to sell Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to the UAE.

The UAE would now turn to Rafale fighter planes manufactured by French aerospace group Dassault Aviation in an attempt to replace its ageing fleet of French-made Mirage military aircraft.

BAE Systems is still negotiating with Saudi Arabia to supply 72 Eurofighter jets to the Arab country.

The company has not yet reached a final agreement with Saudi Arabia over the pricing of the contract, which the Persian Gulf state agreed in 2007 for 4.43 billion pounds at the time.