Former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and her Swedish counterpart Peter Hultqvist signed a landmark agreement last month.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) commits both governments to work on a joint combat air development and acquisition programme, which includes the development of new concepts to meet future requirements.

Ms Mordaunt said: “The UK and Sweden have an enduring defence relationship, with our two industries sharing a rich history of collaboration in air power.

"Not only do we share the same commitment to tolerance, freedom and free trade, we also share the same determination to defend those values. This agreement deepens this partnership and sees us look to the future, with a bold and shared vision of UK and Swedish air power.”

She outlined the UK and Sweden’s long partnership on defence, including joint exercises in the Arctic and in Exercise Ramstein Alloy over the skies of Eastern Europe.

Swedish-made chaff and flare dispensers are used on UK Typhoons, and Saab’s Giraffe radar is a key part of the UK’s Sky Sabre ground-based air defence system.

Swedish Gripen aircraft are equipped with radars designed and built by Leonardo in Edinburgh; and the UK, working with European partners including Sweden, has developed the ‘state of the art’ beyond-visual-range Meteor air-to-air missile.

Mr Hultqvist confirmed that both governments intend to remain at the forefront of combat air.

He stressed the opportunities to put advanced technologies onto Gripen and Typhoon — the world-class combat aircraft currently operated by Sweden and the UK respectively — before inserting these technologies into a future combat air system.