"The Obama administration announced last week it had finalized a record $29.4
billion Boeing F-15 sale to Saudi Arabia, dwarfing previous individual U.S. arms
deals and supporting jobs by increasing exports.
Deliveries of 84 of the most advanced F-15 fighters are expected to start in 2015 with upgrades to 70 others expected to start in 2014, the administration said. Congress had cleared the sale in the fall of 2010, setting the stage for the freshly completed negotiations on the government-to-government contract.
Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, portrayed the deal as shoring up Saudi air defenses in a region rattled by Iran's disputed nuclear program as well as supporting more than 50,000 U.S. jobs at a time of high unemployment. The deal was signed December 24 and unveiled by the White House on Thursday in Hawaii, where Obama has been vacationing. The program involves roughly 600 suppliers in 44 of the 50 U.S. states and give the economy a $3.5 billion annual boost, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro told reporters at a State Department briefing. "This will support jobs not only in the aerospace sector but also in our manufacturing base and support chain, which are all crucial for sustaining our national defense," he said. The deal is worth about three times more than any other single U.S. arms sale to date, according to a March 10 report on U.S.-Saudi ties by Christopher Blanchard of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. It will extend Boeing's F-15 production line about five years to late in this decade, Dennis Muilenburg, head of the company's military, space and security business, said in a telephone interview with Reuters. "Having that hot production line gives us the base to invest in technology advancements for that platform going forward, he said. "Obviously, that creates a lot of momentum for us on our international growth."
Deliveries of 84 of the most advanced F-15 fighters are expected to start in 2015 with upgrades to 70 others expected to start in 2014, the administration said. Congress had cleared the sale in the fall of 2010, setting the stage for the freshly completed negotiations on the government-to-government contract.
Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, portrayed the deal as shoring up Saudi air defenses in a region rattled by Iran's disputed nuclear program as well as supporting more than 50,000 U.S. jobs at a time of high unemployment. The deal was signed December 24 and unveiled by the White House on Thursday in Hawaii, where Obama has been vacationing. The program involves roughly 600 suppliers in 44 of the 50 U.S. states and give the economy a $3.5 billion annual boost, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro told reporters at a State Department briefing. "This will support jobs not only in the aerospace sector but also in our manufacturing base and support chain, which are all crucial for sustaining our national defense," he said. The deal is worth about three times more than any other single U.S. arms sale to date, according to a March 10 report on U.S.-Saudi ties by Christopher Blanchard of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. It will extend Boeing's F-15 production line about five years to late in this decade, Dennis Muilenburg, head of the company's military, space and security business, said in a telephone interview with Reuters. "Having that hot production line gives us the base to invest in technology advancements for that platform going forward, he said. "Obviously, that creates a lot of momentum for us on our international growth."