RIYADH: In one of the biggest foreign military sales in US history, Saudi Arabia has acquired one of the most advanced jet fighters, the F-15 Eagle, in a deal with Boeing worth more than $29 billion. In the deal, Saudi will add 84 newly built F-15SAs to the royal Saudi air forces. The kingdom is one of the biggest customers for US arms, making up to 10 percent of the total export in past years. In the last eight years, Saudi bought $115 billion worth of weapons from the US. While the recent Saudi deal of F-15 Eagle with Boeing is worth more than $29 billion, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), revealed that Boeing is among the six American companies placed among the top eight global firms, based on defense-related revenues.
Boeing is ranked second with ($31 billion), while Lockheed Martin topped the list with $35 billion in arms sales, Raytheon ($22 billion), Northrop Grumman ($20 billion), and General Dynamics ($19 billion) ranked fourth through sixth, while United Technologies ($12 billion) took eighth position. And according to the numbers the SIPRI report showed, the arms exports are not only meant to achieve national security and foreign policy goals, but also these sales deals can provide significant economic benefits as well, particularly for the workers and communities where production is located.
