The 2006 Saudi Shopping Spree: BAE Wins Tornado Fleet Upgrade Contract
Related Stories: BAE, Britain/U.K., Fighters & Attack, Middle East - Other, Rumours, Support & Maintenance, Support Functions - Other
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In our December 2005 coverage of the $10 billion Saudi Eurofighter sale, DID counseled caution regarding reports that the aircraft would replace the Saudis’ existing Tornado squadrons. Now British newspapers are reporting that BAE has won a GBP 2.5 billion (about $4.66 billion) contract to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s Tornado fighter aircraft, and that these measures are likely to keep the ground attack (Tornado IDS) and air-defense (Tornado F3) aircraft in service until 2020 or so. DID will add details to this report as new information regarding the Saudi Tornado upgrades comes in.
Saudi Arabia currently operates about 120 Tornado aircraft, including both the strike-optimized Tornado IDS (96 aircraft, Scramble places them within 7, 66, 75 & 83 Squadrons at Dhahran on the east coast), and Tornado F3 ADV long-range interceptors (24 planes in 29 Sqadron at Tabuk near Jordan).
