Saudi Arabia has taken delivery of the first two Typhoon aircraft belonging to the Saudi Royal Air Force out of an order for 72 as part of the Al-Salam Project, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Friday. Another 48 Typhoons will arrive within weeks, and will be assembled inside Saudi Arabia in cooperation between the companies of Economic Offset Program and the private sector, said Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs. He said the assembling of this huge number of aircraft being done in Saudi Arabia was the first in any country, indicating that the transfer of technology will be done at institutes and factories in the Kingdom in collaboration with the private sector. Prince Khalid noted that this achievement has been the result of the support provided for air, sea and land forces by the government to raise their combat capabilities. He said Saudi youth will be given priority in vacancies to be announced by the Al-Salam Project. BAE Systems employs approximately 5,000 employees, more than half of them are Saudis, he said. Saudi Arabia is the first country outside Europe to have the Typhoon. __
