DUBAI (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi and BAE Systems BA.L are in talks to build trainer aircraft for the United Arab Emirates airforce which has a fleet of F-16 and Mirage fighter jets, state-owned Mubadala Development Co said.
A deal could involve the trainers being built in Abu Dhabi, Mubadala's chief operating officer, Waleed al-Mokarrab al-Muhairi, told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit in Dubai on Monday.
Details of the deal are still being negotiated, he said, declining to comment on the value of the investment.
"We are looking at a project that will build synergies with our businesses," Muhairi said.
In April 2006 Mubadala won regulatory approval to buy a 35 percent stake in Piaggio Aero Industries, an Italian maker of aircraft, engines and components, for an undisclosed sum.
Mubadala and Dubai-based investment agency Istithmar bought Swiss aircraft maintenance firm SR Technics last year for $1.3 billion.
The Middle East accounts for between 16 and 20 percent of BAE's turnover, Simon Keith, the British defense company's regional managing director said last month.
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