Photo: RSAF
On July 24th, Tuesday, Department of Defense announced the contract with Saudi company, Alsalam Aerospace Industries for the upgrade of six F-15S aircraft to the newer F-15SA configuration. The value of the contract is $59.7 million. The Royal Saudi Air Force has a total of 66 F-15S fighter jets.
This continues Saudi Arabia’s shift to the F-15SA, which is considered to be one of the most advanced F-15 variants ever built, as reported by UPI.
The F-15 Eagle is a single-seat all-weather air superiority tactical fighter jet used by the U.S. Air Force and many allied nations. It is highly maneuverable and is capable of reaching speeds more than twice the speed of sound. It’s first flight was in 1972 and the first active aircraft were delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1979. The F-15S was the first Saudi-specific variant and is one of the primary fighter jets of the Royal Saudi Air Force. The F-15SA is considered the most advanced version of the jet so far. It has upgraded avionics, electronics warfare systems and a greater payload.
Services under the contract include program management, conversion touch labor, over-and-above, and kit storage. The work on the aircraft will be performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Defense World reports that it is expected to complete in August 2020, according to the US Department of Defense.
Defense World further reports that the F-15SA aircraft come equipped with the APG-63V3 AESA radar, a digital glass cockpit, Helmet Mouted Cueing System, Digital Electronic Warfare System/Common Missile Warning System (DEWS/CMWS), IRST (Infra Red Search and Track) system, and able to carry a wide array of air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry, including the AIM-120C7 AMRAAM and the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, the AGM-84 SLAM-ERs, the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) and the GBU-39 SDBs (Small Diameter Bombs) on 11 external hardpoints.
In 2011, Saudi Arabia ordered 84 F-15SA jets from Boeing. In addition to the 84 Boeing fighters, the deal included orders for upgrades to Saudi Arabia’s 70 older F-15s, HARM AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles, Laser JDAM and Enhanced Paveway munitions and related equipment and services. The estimated cost was $29.432 billion, as reported by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The first of the jets was commissioned on January 25th, 2017. According to Aviation News it was delayed by one year due to an unspecified issue with the digital fly-by-wire system.
On March 23rd, another US-Saudi deal was announced by US State department worth more than $1 billion. The package includes a $670m deal for 6,600 TOW anti-missile tanks, a $106m contract for helicopter maintenance and $300m spare parts for military vehicles.
PressTV, on April 10th, posted an article claiming that Saudi Arabia had signed $18 billion worth of deals with France. According to the article, earlier reports claimed that $10 billion of them were focused on cooperation in the oil sector between the state oil giant Saudi Aramco on one side and major French companies including Total, Technip and Suez, on the other.
Other unconfirmed reports by PressTV claim that the major deals during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to France were for arms sale, including navy patrol boats and for Ceasar artillery cannons.
Despite the massive spending on arms by Saudi Arabia, the on-going offensive in Yemen has seen little success, with the most recent attempt to capture the key Yemeni port city of al-Hudaydah, being unable to show any conclusive results.
Saudi,Israhell,….US,
All fight opponents who are limited in military technology and hamstrung by political interference so that They Always appear so mighty and unbeatable.
It’s awesome when they over reach and get their jaw busted Doesn’t happen enough……however.
Aircraft and Ships could experience the bad day like the Tank has in recent wars vs ATGMs and specialized air attack munis.
Israel got bloodied but good vs Egypt during Yom Kippur war as SAMs bested anything the US or France could put in via aircraft.
Syria and the Houthis both face interference which limits their ability to get in range to take on Saudi, US…or IAF.
Anyhoo,…..that’s how war goes on Planet Rothschild, …..rant over
And the Rothchilds ask why, why, why….?
We have all the money, the best equipment, endless supply of fodder I mean trained soldiers, we control the media and the narrative and most of all, we control the supply of money and credit.
So why are we losing…?
I wonder who those camel turds are going to give the 6600 TOW missiles to this time. I’m guessing IS in Afghanistan will get a large chunk of them.
Often overlooked When Yasser Arafat and the PLO were pushing back against Israhell, Before Jews paid off Yasser,PLO and Hamas,….to play the game.
Israel was shit scared of the Jordanians going all in with the PLO.
Today’s Al CIA’da and ISUS are of course, ….Controled opposition and paid assassin’s Yet…if we consider Jordan which is swimming in modern weapons,
If a True resistance against Uncle Shlomo and Israhell were to arise in Jordan, It could be the 3rd front which checkmate Israel No matter what their leverage is.
Jerusalem gets overun in hours … There isn’t enough Police or Military on the streets to stop the volume that could fall upon them, That is…if the Palestinians are willing to accept high losses at the beginning rush.
They pick up weapons from Police and IDF and just roll. Over in hours!
Israhell best consider that this kind of Karma moment happens. Babylon fell to the Medo Persians in mere hours.
Israhell may regret provoking Syria as that has become a country with a large military with high endurance in combat.
If that spills over to Jordan. … Israhell could be toast.
Over seventy percent of Jordan are Palestinian refugee descendants. They have no love for Abdullah of Jordan.
The Houthis of course. The Houthis attack and the coalition forces flee leaving behind their equipment. Viola, Houthis successfully resupplied.
Just great. When Wahhabi fanatics overthrow the al Saud monarchy and take over the kingdom caliphate, they’ll be armed to the teeth. I wonder if they’ll still be best buddies with Israel then?
Somehow Wahabbis always seem to end up as bestest buds with Israel.
Funny that. Maybe because the House of Saud and Wahabs are cryptoJews.,like Turco Kemal was a Donmeh crypto Jew.
I think they will be bestest buds with the UAE that has been arm and arm with the Saudis in their exciting joint exploits killing fellow muslims as well as propping up each other’s teetering corrupt regimes that cozy up to infidel Nations and allow infidel armies to base on sacred soil in the holy lands.
Surely this will have warmed the hearts of the wahhabi insurgents and having brought down the House of Saud, those F-15s will deliver the message on just how appreciative they are for all the UAE have done. And for that extra special touch, expect the first missile to be fired at the Emirs residence with Hadi strapped to the nose cone.
So they get the most advanced version of the F-15. Maybe now they finally have a self targeting system so that even Saudi pilots will be able to hit anything.
Apparently there is a new weapon called the anti-missile tank. I suppose it works something like this: The tank is catapulted into the path of the incoming anti-tank Missile where a successful interception results in destruction of the missile and destruction of the tank the missile was intended to destroy.
The Coalition just loves to broadcast successful interceptions so this will be a fine addition to the Coalition arsenal in achieving success in the chronically paused offensive Operation Going Nowhere.
Lastly, it is becoming clear that it is not Iran, but the US that is providing military aid to the Houthis and bypass the blockade via an ingenious scheme as follows.
Send the Saudis all the equipment the Houthis are in short supply of. The Saudis then provide the equipment and supplies to the frontline coalition troops. The handover to the Houthis is straightforward: the Houthis attack, the Coalition forces flee the battlefield, leaving behind the equipment and supplies for the Houthis to capture. Another successful Houthi supply mission, brilliant.
Haha?
The F15 is NOT used by “many allied nations”. Only five other countries use it – none of them America’s European allies.
The F16 is used by many more countries.