Qatar to buy more than 70 fighter jets
Posted on 04 Jan 2017
The US State
Department has approved the sale of 72 F-15QA fighter jets to the government of
Qatar, along with weapons and related support, equipment and training.
The estimated cost is
$21.1 billion, and the prime contractor will be Chicago-based Boeing.
The other contractors
include: Astronautics Corporation of America, Arlington (Virginia); BAE
Systems, also Arlington; Elbit Systems of America, Fort Worth (Texas); Lockheed
Martin Aeronautics Co, also Fort Worth; General Electric Aviation, Cincinnati
(Ohio); and Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix (Arizona).
A Qatari government
spokesman said: “The proposed sale improves Qatar’s capability to meet current
and future enemy air-to-air and air-to-ground threats.
“Qatar will use the
capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland
defence. Qatar will have no difficulty absorbing these aircraft into its armed
forces.
“The sale of this
aircraft, equipment, training, and support services will not alter the basic
military balance in the region.”
The US State
Department has also approved the sale of 40 Boeing Super Hornet jets to Kuwait.
A Boeing spokesman said: “The Kuwait sale will extend our production line
through mid-2018.
“Combined with orders
from the US Navy, we will continue building two Super Hornets per month into
the 2020s.”
Meanwhile, Lockheed
Martin is still awaiting the approval of an order from Bahrain for its F-16
jet. The company has recently sold these aircraft to several countries, including Indonesia and
Colombia.
Original post machinery-market.co.uk
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F-15E: Details
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