Saudi Arabia buys 72 Eurofighters

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.

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.

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Good news for the UK. I wonder if that means we'll be giving them some of our Tranche 3 planes. If that's possible, I certainly hope we do.

FuManChu said:

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Good news for the UK. I wonder if that means we'll be giving them some of our Tranche 3 planes. If that's possible, I certainly hope we do.

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I thought they were saying a while back that the cost could go up to 30 billion pound if a 25 year servicing agreement is included.

The military threat to Saudi Arabia is not clear as to justify the purchase of 72 Eurofighter jets.

To its south and south-east are smaller Sunni emirates/monarchies which do not pose a military threat to Saudi Arabia. Iraq's regime has changed and it is also an ally of the US, similar to Saudi Arabia. Syria and Jordan are also not military threats to Saudi Arabia.

Although Iran is Shiite and Saudi Arabia criticized the Hezbollah (which is also Shiite), it is unlikely that a war may break between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Upon evaluation of Iran's military capabilities, the current 115 F-15 jets and Tornados of Saudi Arabian Air Force must be sufficient for meeting any current threats.

Indianfighter said:

The military threat to Saudi Arabia is not clear as to justify the purchase of 72 Eurofighter jets.

To its south and south-east are smaller Sunni emirates/monarchies which do not pose a military threat to Saudi Arabia. Iraq's regime has changed and it is also an ally of the US, similar to Saudi Arabia. Syria and Jordan are also not military threats to Saudi Arabia.

Although Iran is Shiite and Saudi Arabia criticized the Hezbollah (which is also Shiite), it is unlikely that a war may break between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Upon evaluation of Iran's military capabilities, the current 115 F-15 jets and Tornados of Saudi Arabian Air Force must be sufficient for meeting any current threats.

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The real reason is that they have to purchase some weapons from the West to appease the trading surplus they have from the rising costs of oil.

The threat to Saudi Arabia is Israel. IDF has better F-15s than the Saudi F-15s.

tphuang said:

The threat to Saudi Arabia is Israel. IDF has better F-15s than the Saudi F-15s.

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Not really. Israel wouldn't attack Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis would never get involved in a conflict with Israel.

Saudi Arabia has always been highly worried about Iran, perhaps also Syria. Up until recently Iraq was a major worry. Although Saddam has gone, anything could happen with Iraq in the future. After all the Shias are now in charge and Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

But it's also a simple issue of keeping the technological level of their weapons ticking over. Europe is a far safer part of the world than the Middle East, yet most countries there always upgrade their systems.

tphuang said:

The real reason is that they have to purchase some weapons from the West to appease the trading surplus they have from the rising costs of oil.

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The above statement is accurate. Saudi Arabia is indeed an ally of the US, and it is due to the actions of the US in Iraq, that have resulted in the rise in the price of oil. Thus this (rather unnecessary) purchase of Eurofighter jets by Saudi Arabia may be a reciprocation.

FuManChu said:

Not really. Israel wouldn't attack Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis would never get involved in a conflict with Israel.

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Yes. Israel and Saudi Arabia are allies of the US, and Saudi Arabia criticised the actions of the Hezbollah(shiite), and not Israel during the recent conflict. Thus, Israel is unlikely to be a military threat to Saudi Arabia.
Thus, the Shiite threat perception is more than that of Israel amongst the Sunni nations.

Saudi Arabia has always been highly worried about Iran, perhaps also Syria. Up until recently Iraq was a major worry. Although Saddam has gone, anything could happen with Iraq in the future. After all the Shias are now in charge and Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

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Iraq is militarily not capable to be a threat to the KSA. Iraq is also an ally of the US, and provides a buffer between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

FuManChu said:

Not really. Israel wouldn't attack Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis would never get involved in a conflict with Israel.

Saudi Arabia has always been highly worried about Iran, perhaps also Syria. Up until recently Iraq was a major worry. Although Saddam has gone, anything could happen with Iraq in the future. After all the Shias are now in charge and Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

But it's also a simple issue of keeping the technological level of their weapons ticking over. Europe is a far safer part of the world than the Middle East, yet most countries there always upgrade their systems.

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that's why Israel and the Israeli lobby put pressure on the Americans against selling advanced platforms to Saudi Arabia, right?

As long as your neigbhours are upgrading their military, you have to do the same. It's not that you think they will invade, but you have to prepare against that scenario. Look at South America. They are not putting any money into upgrading their military until Venezuela recently. But now, I'm guessing other air forces in that area would have to upgrade.

Indianfighter said:

Iraq is militarily not capable to be a threat to the KSA. Iraq is also an ally of the US, and provides a buffer between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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Well if something went really wrong in Iraq and Iranian-backed stooges took power, or something, who knows. But we should operate on the most likely outcome, which would be that Iraq isn't a threat. I was just thinking the Saudis wouldn't bank on Iraq always being a buffer, that's all.

tphuang said:

that's why Israel and the Israeli lobby put pressure on the Americans against selling advanced platforms to Saudi Arabia, right?

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Well the Israelis want to ensure they survive, so they want to be sure they have total military supremacy in the region - they leave nothing to chance. I doubt they see Riyadh as a threat.