Saudi Arabia to order more Eurofighter Typhoon

[AtaSaudi]

Saudi Arabia intends to order extra 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for £20 billion. It is worth mentioning that the Saudis bought 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in 2005 for over £4 billion:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKLA46133920080810?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

 

[tphuang]

Saudi Arabia intends to order extra 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for £20 billion. It is worth mentioning that the Saudis bought 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in 2005 for over £4 billion:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKLA46133920080810?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

It's really amazing, how many typhoons do the Saudi's really need? It's a great fighter, but they are going to have like 120 typhoon now.

 

[nevidimka]

Typhoon is a great fighter and I think the Saudi's are very happy with the plane and the package they got with it, considering how they got a bad deal with the F15's.
Maybe they are trying to balance Israel's power in the region.

 

[Feanor]

Whoa. They paid 4 billion pounds for the first batch and 20 billion for the second?

 

[2S1]

It's really amazing, how many typhoons do the Saudi's really need? It's a great fighter, but they are going to have like 120 typhoon now.

Several years back, Prince Sultan declared their intention to have 200+ Typhoons in service by 2015.

If BAE and Al Salam/AACC get the Saudi-based 'kit'-production facility up and running effectively, then who knows what the final procurement will be?

Typhoon after all not only initially replaces the Tornado ADV; RSAF has had a hole in its OOB since the retirement of the F-5E/F fleet and looking to reactivate those squadrons.

Their F-15 C/D fleet also is now closing on 30 years of age, with many of the airframes having sustained much higher-than-avegrage flight hours. Already older F-15Cs are being retired, one can be seen today in Riyadh's excellent RSAF Museum for instance.

 

[2S1]

Whoa. They paid 4 billion pounds for the first batch and 20 billion for the second?

The 20 Billion quoted by the press is slightly misleading in my opinion, this figure almost certainly includes the estimated through-life cost of the programme as well as seperate training, maintanence and weapons packages. The original 4 Billion quote was only for the initial outlay Saudi would have to pay.

From what I hear also and this is not mentioned, any second deal will also include up to 20 Hawk Mk 120 series LIFT to allow for the retirement of their older Hawk Mk.65s. Their Hawk fleet last year celebrated 1 million flight hours, however they are deemed inadequate for training pilots destined for Typhoon.

 

[SaudiArabian]

it will be an excellent deal and yes Prince Sultan did mention on Saudi TV channel 1 that the plans are to aquire over 200 Typhoons (i remember he said an exact number around 220 but i forgot it)

It's really amazing, how many typhoons do the Saudi's really need? It's a great fighter, but they are going to have like 120 typhoon now.

Saudi Arabia has very large mostly desert lands to defend and it lies in a hostile area surrounded by various threats from several directions. the need for a large and strong air force with large ground attack capabilities is very high.

considering how they got a bad deal with the F15's.
Maybe they are trying to balance Israel's power in the region.

the F-15s deals were not bad. its the best jet fighter ever served so far in the RSAF. the problem is that buying them is a political pain in the nick.

 

[2S1]

it will be an excellent deal and yes Prince Sultan did mention on Saudi TV channel 1 that the plans are to aquire over 200 Typhoons (i remember he said an exact number around 220 but i forgot it)



Saudi Arabia has very large mostly desert lands to defend and it lies in a hostile area surrounded by various threats from several directions. the need for a large and strong air force with large ground attack capabilities is very high.


the F-15s deals were not bad. its the best jet fighter ever served so far in the RSAF. the problem is that buying them is a political pain in the nick.

Agreed. The RSAF is certainly the most responsive and cost-effective means by which Saudi can defend it's large land mass.

I would also agree that the original F-15 deal was not so bad financially, but Saudi's problems getting anything via the US Congress are well documented. The refusal to allow the Reagan Administration to sell further batches of F-15 being the clearest example. Later problems involving E-3 AWACS, downgrading Saudi's Strike Eagles and the current rumblings in regards JDAM are testemant to things haven't really changed.

Indeed, there are rumours BAE has had to be extra dilligent in concerns to US-manufactured avionic components used in Eurofighter Typhoon destined for the RSAF.

 

[perfectgeneral]

Wow

A batch of 72 multiplied by three makes 216 Typhoons. Was that the figure? Does this make the SA Kingdom the second largest customer for Typhoon after the UK?

They really should get in at the ground floor on the next Eurofighter project. They could put the extra money they currently pay as an export customer to improve the capabity of the next fighter project.

 

[Feanor]

Time will tell. From what I can see, the Saudi's prefer to diversify, to avoif complications or being forced to buy something they don't need or don't want.

 

[otester]

Will they get the Meteor BVRAAM?

If so then that will put them ahead of Israel in air-to-air power.

 

[2S1]

Will they get the Meteor BVRAAM?

If so then that will put them ahead of Israel in air-to-air power.

It's fair to say that it's very probable they will get Meteor. Their Tornado Sustainment deal (which brings them up to GR4 spec) includes Storm Shadow, Brimstone, ASRAAM and Paveway IV; the precedent of getting the best kit available has been set.

They will need a lot more than just Meteor however to be considered the region's premier air power in my opinion.

 

[otester]

It's fair to say that it's very probable they will get Meteor. Their Tornado Sustainment deal (which brings them up to GR4 spec) includes Storm Shadow, Brimstone, ASRAAM and Paveway IV; the precedent of getting the best kit available has been set.

They will need a lot more than just Meteor however to be considered the region's premier air power in my opinion.

Does SA have AWACS or do they rely on ground radars?

 

[2S1]

Does SA have AWACS or do they rely on ground radars?

The Royal Saudi Air Force were the first export customer for the Boeing E-3A Sentry AWACS. Their 18 Squadron operates 5 E-3 from Prince Sultan AFB near Riyadh. Their usual area of operation is over the Persian Gulf, monitoring Iran.

Their ground-based radar network cost over 8 Billion US dollars to build and considered second only to that defending NATO. 30+ radars linked to five underground command centres which communicate via a hardened fibre-optic/microwave network.

The only problem the Saudis have is that they don't have enough staff to operate all this sophisticated Western kit.

 

[SaudiArabian]

The only problem the Saudis have is that they don't have enough staff to operate all this sophisticated Western kit.

on the contrary , there are more than enough staff to operate these ground radar systems. the problems lies within these ground systems itself because they are not as sophisticated as what some people think. the israeli air violations in 2002~2003 and the Saudi ground radars failure to detect them properly was a clear sign to me of its ineffectivity.

 

[2S1]

on the contrary , their are more than enough staff to operate these ground radar systems. the problems lies within these ground systems itself because they are not as sophisticated as what some people think. the israeli air violations in 2002~2003 and the Saudi ground radars failure to detect them properly was a clear sign to me of its ineffectivity.

SaudiArabian are you agreeing with me thus that within most complex of surveillance networks, there maybe holes?

If so,SaudiArabian talk to Chambo.

 

[SaudiArabian]

SaudiArabian are you agreeing with me thus that within most complex of surveillance networks, there maybe holes?

If so,SaudiArabian talk to Chambo.

its not a "maybe" , its a certainty! it only takes time to figure out these holes and use them to take advantage.

 

[eaf-f16]

on the contrary , there are more than enough staff to operate these ground radar systems. the problems lies within these ground systems itself because they are not as sophisticated as what some people think. the israeli air violations in 2002~2003 and the Saudi ground radars failure to detect them properly was a clear sign to me of its ineffectivity.

There were Israeli air violations into Saudi airspace? I know there were regular violations of Syrian airspace by the Israelis before but I assumed this was because they had no means of preventing them. But violating Saudi airspace is pretty ballsy.

 

[2S1]

There were Israeli air violations into Saudi airspace? I know there were regular violations of Syrian airspace by the Israelis before but I assumed this was because they had no means of preventing them. But violating Saudi airspace is pretty ballsy.

eaf-f16. When the Israel attacked Osirak, they flew 70% of their mission over Saudi airspace to do it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5020778.stm

And I speculate; the Israeli attack was done in conjunction with the Saudis...

 

[eaf-f16]

eaf-f16. When the Israel attacked Osirak, they flew 70% of their mission over Saudi airspace to do it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5020778.stm

And I speculate; the Israeli attack was done in conjunction with the Saudis...

I don't think RSAF had AWACS back then and the Israelis were flying below radar coverage. But SaudiArabian is talking about airspace violations as late as 2003 which would mean the Israelis were going in there accepting the very real possibility of interception by RSAF F-15C/D/S's.

I'm interested to know if the Israelis violated Saudi airspace with fighter-jets or drones and how Saudi air defense reacted.