Posted on 08/18/2006 2:21:05 AM PDT by Jordi
The Eurofighter has taken more than 20 years to design and build
Saudi Arabia has confirmed it is to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from the UK, in a deal that could be worth more than £6bn ($10bn).
The contract, brokered between the Saudi government and the Ministry of Defence, will safeguard thousands of jobs at UK defence firm BAE Systems.
Saudi Arabia is buying the Eurofighters to replace its range of Tornado jets which were also made by BAE.
The Eurofighter was developed by BAE with European firms EADS and Alenia.
Confidential figure
"The required commercial principles have now been agreed which has initiated the purchase of Typhoon aircraft and the associated commitment to the industrial plan to be launched," said the Ministry of Defence.
Its [Saudi Arabia's] relationship with the West is very very important so yes there will be criticism but I think one can knock that down quite easily
Defence analyst Howard Wheeldon
Check BAE's share price
The ministry added that as the financial details of the deal were confidential, it could not reveal exactly how much it was worth.
Some newspaper reports have suggested it could total as much as £10bn.
The Eurofighter's UK headquarters is at Warton, Lancashire, where BAE employs 9,000 people in its aircraft division.
Confirmation of the Saudi deal, which was first proposed in December, saw BAE's shares rise 3% in early Friday trading in London. [...]
Long delays
The Saudi deal is the first confirmed order for the Eurofighter to come from outside the European Union.
Inside Europe, the plane has been ordered by the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria.
The development of the Eurofighter has been hit by rows and delays, and the project going significantly over-budget.
With work first starting in the early 1980s, the maiden flight did not take place until 1994.
The plane is in competition with the US Joint Strike Fighter and the French Rafale.
While some people have previously criticised arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing its human rights record and lack of democracy, defence expert Howard Wheeldon disagreed.
"It [Saudi] has a tremendous reputation of trying to help and assist in the various Middle East disputes and its relationship with the West is very very important so yes there will be criticism but I think one can knock that down quite easily," he told the BBC's Five Live Breakfast
Think Isreal is going to rethink turning down the F22 offer.
What you talking about? Israel didn't turn down any f22 offer
Is the JSF more modern than the Eurofighter? Also, the Eurofighter and the JSF are probably going to be the main rivals globally, with probably only France using their fighters (and some former French African countries, too).
There are cheaper target drones out there...
I don't believe we offered Israel the F-22. In fact, wasn't there a debate recently about the fact that the US should not export the F-22 to keep our edge? I happen to agree with those that want to keep the F-22 a US fighter exclusively.
This looks like a good question for PD!!!!
Anyway,the EF-2000 is usually rated as a better fighter than the JSF or the Rafale,though not on strike missions.FYI,Ive read that Saudi Arabia may also buy the Rafale.No African nation can afford the Rafale-its too expensive.Right now it's only offered to biggies like Saudi Arabia,Japan,India etc.
The F22 will be offered to the closest allies of the US, primarily the UK, Australia and Japan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063001695.html
It's doubtful the UK will buy them as their combination of Typhoons and JSF's offer much better value for money against any of the aircraft their enemies possess. The only reason for non-US countries to buy the Raptor is if their enemies own them, which is highly unlikely.
The only nations which can afford & probably need the F-22A are Israel & Japan.Australia has pretty low defense budget for the purpose & they need a real multi-role aircraft to replace their F-111s.Something like the F-15E.
This administration is just not serious about deployments. Underbuying-has drastically inflated unit-cost. Which creates a vicious cycle of further opposition to deployment.
Certainly in range...but in a real head-to-head? I would take the JSF.
Is that rating done by the same people that prefer Airbus to Boeing?
gee, just what we need, sell 75 top level fighters to the country that caused 911.
I read an article that said Israel turned it down in favor of the JSF because the F22 was too expensive.
Oh great, I can think of a few things to do:
1. This proves Victor Davis Hanson's assertion in black and white that you Europeans are hypocrites when it comes to doing business with people you call repungent. I remember it is not so long ago that you, on the pages of The (UK) Independent, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, or El Pais on your home country, would be standing loud and denouncing US cobbling with financing-jihad Saudi Arabia.
2. It shows that at last the US is start to stop treating Saudi Arabia as "close ally".
The Israelis need it for sure. But afford it? BuHuHaHa!
Afford as in via military aid..........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.