British offer to cover risk credit for Saudi defence purposes

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The government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to cover the financial risk of a proposed weapons contract for Saudi Arabia.

British officials said the Blair government has agreed to offer risk credit of nearly $500 million to implement a proposed weapons deal for the Saudi kingdom. The weapons deal being proposed by BAe Systems has been estimated at more than $2.5 billion and includes the sale of new aircraft platforms for Riyad's air force

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Hmmm what kind of aircraft platforms is Britain marketing here???

I mean Saudia already has Tornados ...only thing which comes to my mind is the Eurofighter Tuphoon..but that is not British for them to be marketing it.

any suggestions anyone??

[gf0012-aust]

Hmmm what kind of aircraft platforms is Britain marketing here???

I mean Saudia already has Tornados ...only thing which comes to my mind is the Eurofighter Tuphoon..but that is not British for them to be marketing it.

any suggestions anyone??

The assumption is that it is the Typhoon. The Saudis may well be moving away from US emphasised force structure. The House of Saud has historically had good relationships at the diplomatic level - irrespective of public displays of tension both Governments keep dialogue open.