Saudi Says U.S. Jet Deal Aims to Maximize Defense
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Saudi Arabia said Friday it has signed a deal to buy 84 new U.S. fighter jets to maximize its defense capabilities in order to protect the oil-rich kingdom.
The deal the United States said is worth $30 billion "ensures the kingdom receives the highest possible defense capabilities to protect its people and land," state news agency SPA quoted a Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.
The United States said Thursday the arms deal sent a "strong message" to the Gulf region.
The announcement came with tensions between Iran and the United States on the rise after Tehran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers if Washington implements a new raft of sanctions over its nuclear program.
The $29.4 billion deal, which was signed on Saturday in Riyadh, will supply 84 new Boeing F-15SA aircraft, modernize 70 existing planes, and also includes munitions, spare parts, training and maintenance contracts, U.S. officials said.
The deal was first unveiled in October 2010 as part of a $60 billion U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
The delivery of the whole package will unfold over 15 to 20 years and also includes Black Hawk and Apache attack helicopters, defense officials said.
First deliveries of the aircraft will be made in early 2015, while the modernization of existing planes will start in 2014 and the first payments for the deal are expected in the coming weeks and months.
30 December 2011, 14:10
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Defense against Iran.. for 30 bn of planes you cant fly or if you could, wont last 30 seconds up there, Iran will wipe the floor with you in a few hours.
30 December 2011, 14:20
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Truth is Iran is the best friend US and West ever had. How else would the US sell billions in military gear to the Gulf and Sarkozy ink a deal for a new nuclear plant and new defense contracts every time he visits the region; while Iran turning into another North Korea, wasting national resources on building rockets while people live in misery in a country transformed into a large prison for the mind and soul. This is the same game played by Hizbollah and Israel, two sides of the same coin justifying each other extremism and belligerence. The region is a mad house. Lebanon should have been the intellectual and cultural engine to guide the Arab Spring into a path to reach strong and transparent democracies as a prelude to real Arab Union (also including Iran) similar to EU. Instead, Lebanon has been poisoned by Hizb's Basij ideology and Aoun's Kadafi methods that's destroying everything good in Lebanon and making us the joke of the region instead of the burning flame of freedom.
30 December 2011, 20:17
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Yeah Saudi have qualified pilot , that is not Lebanon with 30 helicopter baby !!!
30 December 2011, 20:20
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Yeah they can , they have qualified pilots for that !!!!!!!!!
