US Selling Aircraft to Saudis for Over $30b

That's right, "billion" with a "b". Bloomberg is reporting that the deal includes more F15s than the Saudis could expect to provide crews for, and a few battalions of Blackhawks.

A proposed U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia will include 84 new Boeing Co. F-15 fighter jets and may be valued at as much as $30 billion, according to a government official familiar with the plan.

The deal also calls for selling 72 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters built by United Technologies Corp.’s Sikorsky unit and refurbishing 70 Saudi F-15s, said the official, who asked not to be identified because terms are still under discussion.

Navy Vice Admiral Jeffrey Wieringa, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign sales, said separately today that Congress may be formally notified “within two months” about the transaction, which he said includes F- 15s, helicopters, ships and missile-defense systems. He said he couldn’t give specifics.

By: Brant