Saudi Arabia said Friday it has signed a deal to buy 84 new US fighter jets to maximize its defense capabilities. Based on the keenness of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to ensure that the Kingdom receives the highest possible defense capabilities to protect its people and land, the deal was signed through the program of foreign sales at the US Defense Department, an official source at the Saudi Ministry of Defense was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The deal, which was signed last Saturday in Riyadh, will supply 84 new Boeing F-15SA aircraft, modernize 70 existing planes, and also includes munitions, spare parts, training and maintenance contracts. The deal was first unveiled in October 2010. The delivery of the whole package will unfold over 15 to 20 years and also includes Black Hawk and Apache attack helicopters, US defense sources said. First deliveries of the aircraft will be made in early 2015, while the modernization of existing planes will start in 2014 and the first payments for the deal are likely in the coming weeks and months. The head of Boeing's military business, Dennis Muilenburg, told Reuters the deliveries would take about five years to complete, extending the F-15 production line toward the end of this decade.
