Trump confirms that US may sell F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh
Photo: US F-35 fighter jets
President Donald Trump has said he plans to approve the sale of US-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.
“I will say that we will be doing that. We'll be selling the F-35s,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office a day before hosting Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington.
The sale could mark a significant shift in US policy and affect the military balance in the Middle East, particularly Israel’s principle of qualitative military edge, the agency reports.
Saudi Arabia wants American aircraft
Saudi Arabia wants to purchase up to 48 F-35 fighter jets, a potential multibillion-dollar deal.
The country, the largest buyer of US weapons, has sought the F-35 for years to modernize its air force and counter regional threats, particularly from Iran.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia made a direct request to Trump to buy the jets.
According to US officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the Pentagon’s political affairs office has been working for months on the potential deal.
Washington weighs Middle East arms sales in a way that preserves Israel’s qualitative military edge, ensuring Israel receives more advanced US weaponry than Arab states.
However, the agency notes that the US Congress may pose obstacles to the sale. Some lawmakers oppose deepening military cooperation with Riyadh, especially after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The previous Biden administration also considered transferring F-35s to Saudi Arabia as part of a diplomatic agreement that included the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Israel. But that did not happen.
What weapons Saudi Arabia buys from the US
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that the US State Department had given the green light to defense contracts with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The State Department approved a potential sale to Saudi Arabia of 2,503 AGM‑114R3 Hellfire II anti‑tank missiles with semi‑active laser guidance, used by AH‑64A/D/E Apache helicopters. The contract is valued at 655 million dollars.
The US also approved a contract to supply 220 AIM‑9X Block 3 air‑to‑air missiles for F‑15 fighter jets. The deal is worth 251 million dollars.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia will purchase from the US 105 mm M456 HEAT tank rounds used by M60A3 tanks, along with other ammunition. The total value of this request is 139 million dollars.
