We broke the news earlier this week that the Saudis are close to finalizing a deal to buy an additional 72 Boeing Strike Eagles. Certain Pentagon offices have been working the specific arrangements to ensure the deal goes through smoothly.
We broke the news earlier this week that the Saudis are close to finalizing a deal to buy an additional 72 Boeing Strike Eagles. Certain Pentagon offices have been working the specific arrangements to ensure the deal goes through smoothly.
I wrote that Riyadh has been eyeballing the low-observable F-15 “Silent Eagle” version. An industry source tells me it’s more likely the buy will be the F-15SG configuration which is now being built for Singapore; basically an advanced version of the F-15E. It is the most modern and capable F-15 in production and comes with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and a third generation Lockheed Martin SNIPER targeting pod.
The Saudi F-15Ss bought in the early 1990s were shipped with downgraded radars and some electronics countermeasures systems were also of lesser quality than what is standard on U.S. Air Force F-15s.
The new F-15s would replace the Royal Saudi Air Force’s fleet of 88 F-15C/Ds, which are getting a bit long in the tooth, delivered as they were in the 1980s. As a Pentagon source told me, the older aircraft have been leaving a few bolts on the tarmac as RSAF maintenance hasn’t always been the best.