The only reason Airbus/France/Germany would want to talk about UK participation is to kill a competing UK programme - whilst retaining their lead in airframe/engine/flight software etc. We’ve been down this path with Dassault too many times before.
Meanwhile......
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ighter-program
Saab CEO Says Warplane Maker Could Join U.K.-Led Fighter Program
Saab, maker of the Gripen warplane, said it’s interested in joining a U.K.-led project to develop a cutting-edge combat aircraft that would be a mainstay of defense programs in two decades time.
While Saab is also evaluating a rival Franco-German fighter plan, the Tempest program funded by Britain’s Ministry of Defence and including BAE Systems Plc and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has more appeal for the Swedish company, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Buskhe said Friday. “We’re much more intensive in discussion with the Brits than the other consortium,” Buskhe said in a phone briefing. “It looks very promising, and I think we jointly can do good things together.” BAE once held a 35 percent stake in Saab and the pair cooperated in a venture to help market the Gripen.
Britain unveiled a full-sized model of the new Tempest fighter at the Farnborough air show on Monday, pledging 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) of funding for a concept aircraft through 2025. Team Tempest also includes the U.K. arm of
MBDA, Europe’s biggest missile company, and
Leonardo SpA of Italy, a partner of BAE on the current Eurofighter program......
Leonardo said at the expo that it’s open to cooperating on other fighter programs but at the moment is in the British “camp.” Other candidates for joining Tempest include Japan and nations in Asia, where demand for warplanes is increasing as China and India flex their military muscle.
Buskhe said the focus elsewhere on developing a future combat plane might spur sales of the Gripen, given Saab’s commitment to building a further version of the plane, the Gripen E, which is scheduled for first delivery next year. The upgrade jet has won orders from Sweden and Brazil. “That gives us, the only ones building a new fighter, a big advantage,” he said. “We have something new, they have a plan to change something old to something new.”