Saudi Arabia Buys MBDA Missiles

Al Defaiya ^ | 1/20/2010 | Al Defaiya

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Saudi Arabia has signed a deal to acquire the Storm Shadow cruise missile from MBDA as part of a Tornado strike aircraft update package, said industry sources. The weapons package also includes the Brimstone anti-armor missile, they said. Earlier plans to include the ASRAAM short-range air-to-air missile ended last year when the Saudis selected Diehl BGT Defence's rival IRIS-T for Tornado and the Typhoon fighter. French-based weapons firm MBDA, in which BAE is a major shareholder, has always refused to discuss negotiations even though a Saudi aircraft being modified at BAE's Warton aerospace complex in the U.K. was photographed taking off on a test flight carrying a Storm Shadow. News of the contract signing emerged as a result of an entry in BAE Systems' preliminary results for 2009. The document said that "significant incremental orders totalling £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) were received in the period for the Tornado Sustainment Programme weapons contract, naval minehunter mid-life update and a multi-year naval training program." MBDA seemed unaware the deal had been made public. A spokesman declined to confirm any details, saying it was "up to the Ministry of Defence or the customer to comment." BAE revealed last year that it was upgrading three Saudi minehunters originally supplied by the VT Group in the mid-1990s.