The Zioneer reports that the United States and Saudi Arabia have reached a $24 billion mega-deal for the sale of aircraft, which will be delivered without certain unspecified components and are not expected to affect the regional balance of power.
The Zioneer reports that the United States and Saudi Arabia have finalized a $24 billion mega-deal for the sale of aircraft, which will be delivered without certain unspecified components, according to a desk intelligence summary. The deal is framed as not affecting the regional balance of power. This announcement, delivered approximately one hour after the earlier thread of reports on the F-35 approval, represents the first confirmation that the transaction has been completed and that components have been withheld.
All prior reports on this thread were published at 20:43 Jerusalem Thursday. The first report from The Zioneer stated the US State Department had approved Saudi Arabia's purchase of 48 F-35s. Minutes later, Barak Ravid (N12) confirmed the approval as part of a broader defense package. The Zioneer then separately reported the official clearance, and finally the State Department notification valued the potential sale at $24.3 billion and stated it "will not alter the military balance in the region." The corroboration chain moved from a single source to multiple newsrooms and an on-record official justification.
The deal continues a series of major US defense sales to the kingdom. As The Zioneer reported, the US recently cleared a $2 billion precision missile system sale to Saudi Arabia and reached a 30-year civilian nuclear agreement that includes the possibility of uranium enrichment on Saudi soil. A separate US-Israel ammunition deal for 60,000 heavy bombs was also finalized earlier this week.
It remains unclear which components are being excluded from the aircraft, the delivery timeline, and whether further conditions will be attached to the sale. The State Department's earlier assurance that the deal will not alter the military balance was also reiterated in the finalization announcement, but the specific rationale for withholding components has not been disclosed.
5 developments
- DevelopingUS approved $2 billion precision missile system sale to Saudi Arabia, according to reports
- StrongUS approves $4.5 billion sale of KC-46A aerial refueling aircraft to Qatar
- ConfirmedUS approves sale of engines for Turkish fighter jets, worth hundreds of millions
- DevelopingUS approves sale of 5,250 interceptor missiles to four Gulf states
Source and signal
- Open-source intake