Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain sales finally move forward

Informal notification of Congress of the sale of F-15s, F-18s, and F-16s to Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain has begun, after the White House finally approved the sales. The request for the sales was put forward through the Foreign Military Sales office two years ago, and has lingered since then. A large sticking point has apparently been objections by Israel over the sale of advanced aircraft to the nations in question.

The sale involves 36 F-15Es to Qatar, with an option for 36 more, 28 F-18E/Fs with an option for 14 more, and as many as 19 F-16s to Bahrain. The Bahrain deal is worth up to $20B, if spares, suppport, and munitions are included. The other two deals are worth $7B for the basic order. All three production lines were looking at imminent closure without this deal. Lockheed was down to fewer than 20 F-16s left to build at their Forth Worth line, and if a deal with India is made, will look at shifting production there as part of the deal. Boeing was looking at closing the F-15 line by 2019, while the F-18 line was down to two aircraft a month, and closing by 2019. They'll continue two a month through the early 2020s now on that line.

The US Congress will examine the long-awaited sale of fighter jets to Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, the last step before a formal notification.

Sources familiar with the deal tell FlightGlobal the informal notification has begun. Qatar has requested 36 Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles, with an option for a total of 72, sources say. Kuwait has requested 28 Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, with an option for a total of 40 aircraft, although Kuwait has also considered a split buy that would include Eurofighter Typhoons.

Bahrain has expressed interest in the Lockheed Martin F-16.

www.flightglobal.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

What is considered to be the most advanced fighter aircraft currently deployed/declassified in the US arsenal and how does it compare with the aircraft that will potentially be sold? What is currently Israel's most advanced fighter aircraft? Is there any (legitimate) reason why Israel should be concerned about other nations having these particular versions of aircraft? Thanks!

originally posted by: seattlerat
a reply to: Zaphod58

What is considered to be the most advanced fighter aircraft currently deployed/declassified in the US arsenal

F-35.

and how does it compare with the aircraft that will potentially be sold?

Light years beyond.

What is currently Israel's most advanced fighter aircraft?

F-15's. Till they stand up their F-35's.

Is there any (legitimate) reason why Israel should be concerned about other nations having these particular versions of aircraft? Thanks!

No.

a reply to: seattlerat

The aircraft being sold won't be nearly as advanced as the best the US, or Israel either currently has, or will be fielding in the same time frame these will be delivered. The US already has the F-35 in service, and Israel will be getting them soon. As for these, the Kuwait F-18s will be the same as the US operated aircraft, with a few minor changes. The F-15Es to Qatar, will be slightly more advanced than the US versions, but I haven't heard of them going for the Advanced version. Bahrain may get the F-16V, which would put them in a class similar to the Block 60 F-16 operated by the UAE, and more advanced than the US versions currently flying.

Israel is getting their first F-35s later this year or early next year. It appears that all of them being built now have been hit by the cooling line problem just found a couple months ago so might slip things into the start of next year. The first one has flown, the next four are on the production line. Their most advanced in service aircraft are their F-15/F-16Is. The F-15I is about equivalent to the US F-15E, before they got their radar upgrade. The F-16I falls somewhere between the Block 50/52 and Block 60, slightly better than ours, not as good as the UAE aircraft.

Israel raised the usual objections that they could be used to attack them, and they're more advanced than anything else the nations buying them have operated before now. Personally, I don't see any reason they should object, other than wanting to be the most advanced in the region.

I could have sworn I heard Israel wasn't getting the F-35? Or they're not getting the "hot" version the US is fielding?

The latter I suppose, now that I think on it a bit...

If that's the case, I would wager there are more than a few bent noses in the IDF...

a reply to: seagull

They're getting them, but there's been a lot of fighting over it. They want to add their own indigenous equipment to them, and Lockheed refuses to give them the source code (or anyone else for that matter), and has been pushing back against them altering them that radically. When they first ordered them, they basically demanded that they get them no later than the US getting them, and even before some US units got them, and everyone said no to that demand, so they threatened not to get them, to which everyone said ok. They eventually came back to the table.

Be interesting to see what Kuwait do in terms of integration with their Typhoons and F18s. They're going to be the first operator to use it equiped with an AESA radar and are getting the Sniper pod integrated. No word on them having the Brimstone but I'd not be surprised if they end up with both that and they new HMDS

There is a very real danger that Bahrain will end up canceling the sale of F-16Vs thanks to the White House. While they approved the initial notification, they added that they won't approve the sale unless Bahrain improves their human rights record, but didn't say how or what stepsthey would have to take. In the past when these games were played the ordering company killed the order.