Saudi's buying more Eurofighters

Typhoons Confront Iraq

August 12, 2008: Saudi Arabia is negotiating to buy another 48
Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters, worth over $40 billion, from Britain.
Last Fall, they finally signed a long anticipated contract to buy 72
Typhoon jet fighters, for about $123 million each. Another $10 billion
will be spent on smart bombs, missiles and ammunition. There are also
several contracts for maintenance and support that total about $20
billion. About 700 Typhoons have been sold so far, and 150 delivered.

This contract was dogged by accusations of bribes paid to Saudi
officials. The Saudis consider this sort of thing normal. When British
prosecutors threatened to go after the guilty parties, the Saudis told
the Brits to call off the lawyers, or else over a hundred billion
dollars of business would go elsewhere. The British government complied.
This new deal may be a way of saying thank you, but is more likely an
effort to buy more protection from an increasingly belligerent Iran, and
a future Iraq that will be armed like Americans, and, worse yet, may
fight like them.

The Typhoon is a somewhat stealthy multi-role fighter. It is fast,
maneuverable, and carries several tons of weapons. It also can be used
for ground attack missions. This 23 ton aircraft is the principal
fighter in the air forces of Britain, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The
Typhoon is closer in capability to the F-15, than the F-22, and is
competing with the F-35 for many export sales. The Typhoon gives Saudi
Arabia an excellent air superiority fighter, and 120 of them would gives
the kingdom excellent protection from any local threats. Which is
apparently the primary purpose of this purchase.

Back in the 1990s, the Saudis purchased 139 Eurofighter Tornado
aircraft, as well as a similar number of U.S. F-15s. Currently, the
Saudi Arabian air force is the most powerful in the Persian Gulf,
largely because of its modern aircraft, and heavy use of Western
technicians and advisors to maintain readiness and training standards.