Amerikanske jagerfly selges til Qatar og Kuwait - AIN Defence News

Gulf Fighter Deals Will Be Worth $30 Billion-plus to U.S. Industry

by Chris Pocock

 - November 21, 2016, 1:49 PM

Qatar will receive 72 Strike Eagles worth more than $21 billion and Kuwait 40 Super Hornets, inset, worth more than $10 billion. (Photo: Boeing)

The long-proposed sale of F-15s to Qatar and F-18s to Kuwait was formally notified by the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to the U.S. Congress last Friday. The politically controversial deals were held up for months by objections from Israel and some American strategists, but U.S. government officials informally told legislators on Capitol Hill in late September that they would be cleared. The sales will extend production of both fighter types at Boeing’s St. Louis facility into the next decade.

Qatar is buying 72 Strike Eagles in a variant designated F-15QA that is presumably similar to the 84 F-15SA jets now being produced at St. Louis for Saudi Arabia. The notification confirms that Qatar requested all 72 aircraft, rather than 36 plus 36 options as previously reported. The value of the sale to Boeing and 11 key subcontractors is stated to be $21.1 billion. But the DSCA notes that “the purchaser typically requires offsets (that) will be defined in negotiations (with) the contractor.” Officials from both Boeing and Qatar denied last month that the fighter deal is linked in any way to the recent $18 billion purchase of 737, 777 and 787 airliners by Qatar Airways.  

The DSCA said: “This proposed sale enhances the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country and strengthening our strategically important relationship. Qatar is an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Persian Gulf region. Our mutual defense interests anchor our relationship and the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) plays a predominant role in Qatar's defense.”

The F-15SA sale will include training including simulators and lead-in fighter pilot training in the U.S.; maintenance and other ground support; and the assignment of some 150 contractor support personnel to Qatar. The key subcontractors to Boeing for the sale are listed by the DSCA as Astronautics; BAE Systems; Elbit Systems of America; General Electric; Honeywell; Lockheed Martin; L-3 Communications; Navcom; Rockwell Collins; Teledyne and UTC Aerospace Systems.

The proposed sale of 32 F-18E single-seat and eight F-18F twin-seat Super Hornet fighters to Kuwait is worth $10.1 billion. The DSCA said: “Kuwait is a strategic partner in maintaining stability in the region. The acquisition of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft will allow for greater interoperability with U.S. forces, providing benefits for training and possible future coalition operations in support of shared regional security objectives.” According to the DSCA, Kuwait will require offsets equal to 35 percent of the main contract purchase price.

The Kuwait Air Force received 32 F-18C and eight F-18D Hornets some 20 years ago; they remain the only fast jets in the KAF inventory; and will be “eventually replaced” by the Super Hornets, according to the DSCA. But Kuwait also confirmed a contract for 28 Eurofighters worth about $9 billion last April.

Unlike the Qatar sale notification, the DSCA specified a long list of associated equipment for the Kuwait sale, including the 48 GE F414 engines; 41 Raytheon APG-79 AESA radars; and 12 Lockheed Martin (LM) AAQ-33 Sniper advanced targeting pods. LM is also supplying Sniper pods for the Eurofighters, instead of the Israeli Litening pods that equip those aircraft in service with the four European partner nations. But Kuwait evidently has no objection to the Israeli connection with the 48 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) that form part of the new Super Hornet sale. These are produced by a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems’ U.S. subsidiary.