One of the first French Rafale variants for Qatar undergoing tests
Posted on 09/17/2017 7:18:59 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar’s defense minister has signed a letter of intent to purchase 24 Typhoon jets from British defense group BAE Systems, in a move that could anger other Gulf countries boycotting Doha.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, suspending air and shipping routes with the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region’s biggest U.S. military base.
“The letter of intent includes the ministry’s intention to purchase 24 modern Typhoon aircraft with all their equipment,” state news agency QNA reported on Sunday.
The agreement was signed by Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and his British counterpart Michael Fallon, QNA added.
“This will be the first major defense contract with Qatar, one of the UK’s strategic partners,” Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that talks over a deal had taken several years.
“We also hope that this will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies.”
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a joint project between BAE, France’s Airbus and Italy’s Finmeccanica [SIFIF.UL] and supports an estimated 40,000 jobs in Britain.
Neither statement gave the cost of the combat jet deal. BAE had agreed in 2014 to supply Saudi Arabia with 72 Typhoon jets in a deal worth 4.43 billion pounds ($6 billion).
Fallon told a conference in London, on Saturday, the British government will step up efforts to help BAE Systems to sell more Typhoon jets with government-to-government deals.
The Typhoon has attracted fewer orders this year than the rival Rafale built by France’s Dassault Aviation , which has agreed deals with Egypt and Qatar.
Qatar also signed a deal in June to buy F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co in the Uni
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
One of the first French Rafale variants for Qatar undergoing tests
Another toy the Qataris decided to buy last year: a variant of the F-15E
And now, this
Eurofighter is a somewhat more capable A2A fighter than the Rafale, which understand is signifcantly better ground attack aircraft. Perhaps they are keen to prioritise air superiority more now than that they are on bad terms with them.
Petrol dollars can buy nice toys.
It is more or less pointless to buy three fighters of the same vintage, two of which are so similar. Look at the logistical costs for what is a rather small country.
I think they are buying political favors. They own and rent a lot of property in Paris, prices go up, and the French renting to them are their virtual btches
This is a major reason IMHO that the UK and its political leaders are so sensitive to negative things being said about Muslims.
Its because they do bu$ine$$ with Mu$lim$ like the terrorist sponsoring Qataris who helped fuel the Syrian Civil War supporting the “rebels” against Assad who were Al_Qaeda with some morphing into ISIS.
And of course ISIS has been terrorizing the UK.
“Its because they do bu$ine$$ with Mu$lim$ like the terrorist sponsoring Qataris who helped fuel the Syrian Civil War supporting the “rebels” against Assad who were Al_Qaeda with some morphing into ISIS.”
Everything you say about the UK above applies to the US too, in spades. No bigger supporter of the Al Qaeda rebels in Syria than good ol’ Uncle Sam.
I haven’t seen Big Don making any changes in that regard lately, have you?
Donald Trump ended the program to arm and train Syrian rebels.
Something has happened since Trump became POTUS, but its a mixed bag.
It looks like the Saudis are giving up on overthrowing Assad. Trump and the Russians are slowing down the civil war and eliminating ISIS. Talks about Syria’s future are down the road.
President Trump did the sword dance in Saudi Arabia back in May and made a speech against terrorism to the Gulf Arabs.
He announced that the Saudis will buy US weapons and invest in “infrastructure” in this country.
That’s the way it is for better or worse.
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