Posted on 05/06/2015 11:45:45 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Kuwait is expected to announce in coming weeks an order for 28 Boeing Co (BA.N) F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, a $3 billion-plus (£1.96 billion plus) deal that will keep the jets' St. Louis production line running well into 2019, according to people familiar with the deal.
Kuwait, which operates a fleet of earlier F/A-18 models, has signed a formal letter stating its firm plans to buy newer-model Boeing jets, according to one of the people who is familiar with the deal but was not authorized to speak publicly.
A second source confirmed that the U.S. government was working with Kuwait to approve the sale of advanced Boeing fighter jets, but gave no further details.
One U.S. official said the proposed Kuwaiti purchase of Super Hornets would be discussed as part of President Barack Obama's summit meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders next week but said it was not clear the deal would be finalised then. The expected deal would make Kuwait the second foreign country after Australia to order the new Boeing jets.
U.S. government officials declined further comment.
The Kuwait order, as well as separate moves by lawmakers to approve the U.S. Navy's request for 12 extra Super Hornets, should now provide sufficient comfort for Boeing to bet its own money to extend its St. Louis production line. It is currently slated to shut down at the end of 2017.
Boeing spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson said a near-term Middle Eastern order and congressional funding for 12 more Super Hornets would allow the company to continue delivering jets without a break in the production line.
She said both elements were needed, cautioning against any assumption that the Kuwaiti order alone would suffice to keep the line running beyond the end of 2017.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
But if we don’t sell them weapons the French or Russians certainly will.
I just don’t understand selling an unfriendly nation some of your best weapons.
We should start pumping out oil as fast as we can to economically cripple the Arab nations to the point of destitute poverty.
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