Defence News: Saudi Crown Prince Confirms Typhoon Deal With U.K.
Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz confirmed on Dec. 26 that a memo of understanding (MOU) has been signed with the United Kingdom for the purchase of an undisclosed number of Eurofighter Typhoon jets. “We will buy the Typhoon aircraft from Britain,” said Sultan, who also is Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. “Britain ... has agreed to take away from us all our used aircraft whether they are American- or British-built, and they number about 200 planes.”....... The Air Force has some 80 aging Northrop Grumman F-5 Tiger II jets, 107 BAE SYSTEMS Tornado fighters and 170 F-15S fighters.
However, Sultan denied all press reports regarding the value of the deal. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) had claimed last week that the value of the British Typhoon deal was far less than the reported figure of $70 billion. “The reported news of an armament deal valued at over $70 billion between the kingdom and Britain is not correct,” the SPA reported Dec. 22, quoting a Defense Ministry official.......
“The Saudi Command had decided some time ago to adopt a policy that makes it a requirement for any party interested in selling defense systems to the kingdom to help it dispose of its old systems,” said a senior Saudi military official who asked not to be named. The official pointed out that Saudi leaders had placed such a condition on parties that offered to replace the kingdom’s 290 AMX-30 main battle tanks built by France’s GIAT. He declined to elaborate.