The Defense Department on Wednesday informed Congress of the possible foreign military sale of 84 new-build Boeing multirole F-15 fighters to Saudi Arabia and the upgrade of 70 existing Saudi F-15S aircraft to the same new configuration. This deal has a total potential value of $29.4 billion, when factoring all of the associated advanced weapons, support services and equipment, and training, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s release. The new F-15 configuration, designated the F-15 Saudi Advanced, or F-15SA, includes the APG-63(V)3 active electronically scanned array radar. This notification comes less than two weeks after Israel signed an agreement to acquire 20 F-35 strike fighters. The F-15 deal is part of a larger arms package to the Saudis that hovers around $60 billion and includes Apache and Blackhawk helicopters. News of the proposed F-15 sale broke in August. (For more, read State Department briefing transcript.)
Matthew Lohmeier, who was fired from a Space Force squadron command just two years ago, took another step in his unlikely journey to the Department of the Air Force's No. 2 job May 1, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee that his background as an Air Force F-15C pilot…