Gulf crisis hots up

On December 29, with Iran threatening to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the White House announced the signature of a US$29.4 billion Foreign Military Sales contract to supply 84 new Boeing F-15SA Eagle strike fighters to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) and to upgrade the RSAF’s 69 existing F-15Ss to SA status. Deliveries of the new-build aircraft are scheduled to begin in early 2015 and upgrades to the RSAF’s existing F-15s – including fitting the Raytheon APG-63(V)3 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar – are expected to begin in mid to late 2014...
