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.)
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
