. Military Space News .
MILPLEX
U.S.-Saudi defense deal nearing final stages

by Staff Writers
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (UPI) Jan 12, 2011
Saudi Arabia has confirmed that its talks with the United States for a defense deal worth $60 billion were on track and near conclusion.

"Talks are continuing according to the agenda and part of it is the purchase of the modified F-15 model," Assistant Defense Minister Khalid bin Sultan said in a report carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Prince Khaled bin Sultan also confirmed that the talks were in the final stages of details the Saudi Gazette reported.

The remarks were the first official statements from Riyadh on the massive deal, a pact which the U.S. administration sees as a key component of a broader policy aimed at shoring up Arab allies against Iran.

The massive arms deal marks the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the United States and supplies the Saudi Arabian kingdom with a fully modernized and powerful new air force.

In all, the deal calls for the sale of 84 new F-15s and upgrades to Saudi Arabia's existing fleet of 70 F-15s. The F-15, developed by McDonnell Douglas, has been manufactured by Boeing since it took over McDonnell Douglas.

The deal will include 72 Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp., plus 70 of Boeing's Apache attack helicopters and 36 of its AH-6M Little Birds, while power for aircraft and helicopters will be provided by General Electric Co. F-110 and T700 engines.

Some defense industry experts have cautioned that the deal could be smaller. U.S. defense firm, Raytheon, for example has estimated that the deal could finally be worth $25 billion. Even so, it will mark the largest single U.S. arms sale.

The delivery of the weapons to Saudi Arabia is expected to be spread across 15-20 years.

"At a time when nearly 1-in-10 U.S. workers is unemployed," the Voice of America reported, "the Obama administration also sees the deal as creating new American jobs."

It said negotiations were under way for naval and ballistic missile defense upgrades that could add tens of billions of dollars in additional sales.

Some U.S. lawmakers have been critical of the deal, demanding more investigation of details of the potential sale.

The United States and the oil-rich Saudi kingdom have long enjoyed a strategic alliance but ties have been strained in recent years over Arab-Israeli diplomacy.

U.S. officials say a final agreement with Riyadh could "kick off arms sales to five other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- who are worried about retaliatory strikes in the event of war," The Wall Street Journal reported.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


MILPLEX
Assange lawyers attack 'corrupt' Swedish sex case
London (AFP) Jan 11, 2011
British lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused Swedish prosecutors of "corrupt" behaviour in their efforts to extradite him over allegations of sex crimes, defence papers revealed Tuesday. His legal team also says there is a "real risk" that if extradited to Sweden, Assange may be sent on to the United States, where the papers say he could be detained at Guantanano Bay or even ... read more







MILPLEX
Iron Dome delayed again amid war fears

LM Missile Defense Programs Led Ballistic Missile Defense Efforts In 2010

Israel Nears Completion Of New Missile Alert System

U.S. may cut Israel missile shield funds

MILPLEX
Venezuela missiles worried U.S., says leak

Russian Missile Maker To Build Two Plants, Expand Exports

JAGM Completes Flying Qualities Tests On Navy's Super Hornet

Taiwan will not deploy advanced rockets near China: report

MILPLEX
Northrop Grumman Awarded Unmanned Surface Vessel Contract From DARPA

Iran Shoots Down Many Western Drones

US drone strikes kill 15 militants in Pakistan: officials

US to deploy new intelligence drone in Afghanistan: report

MILPLEX
JICO Support System Receives Production Approval

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates MR-TCDL Capabilities

IBCS Completes Warfighter-Centered Design Exercises

Arianespace Will Orbit Sicral 2 Milcomms Satellites

MILPLEX
QinetiQ's Gunfire Detection System Is US Military Solution Of Choice

Australia Welcomes JSF Restructure

British company developing invisible tanks

US concerned over China's new weapons: Gates

MILPLEX
EADS: KC-X tanker to be awarded next month

BAE System drops asset sale plan

U.S.-Saudi defense deal nearing final stages

Gates suggests US fighters for Japan

MILPLEX
Gates warns of civil-military disconnect in China

In US, China's Hu to confront battered image

US-China ties strained by power shift

Gates argues for keeping US forces in Japan

MILPLEX
Navy test fires electromagnetic cannon

Joint High Power Solid State Laser Keeps Lasing And Lasing

Boeing Installing Beam Control System On HEL Laser Demonstrator


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement