Saudi Arabia signs MOI for more Typhoons
22 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
NEWS
// MAY 2018 #362Middle East
Iraq
receives
second
batch of
T-50s
THE IRAQI Air Force
(IQAF) received a
second batch of T-50IQ
jet trainer/light attack
aircraft on March 7.
The two jets were
handed over to Iraqi
authorities at Martyr
Mohammed Alaa Air Base
at Baghdad International
Airport, and unconfirmed
reports suggest at
least six T-50IQs had
been delivered to Iraq
by late January.
Iraq signed a contract
with Korea Aerospace
Industries (KAI) for 24
T-50IQs, valued at more
than $1.1bn, in December
2013 – the manufacturer
saying deliveries would
start in April 2015 and
that all 24 aircraft would
be supplied within 12
months. In the event the
first didn’t take its maiden
flight until July 13, 2015.
All 24 had been
completed by March
2017 – deliveries having
begun the previous
month – and Iraqi pilots
are now receiving
conversion training on
the T-50 in South Korea.ROYAL AIR Force of
Oman A320-214 (ACJ)
serial 555 (c/n 4117, ex
F-WWID) arrives at Malta
International Airport onApril 1 for seven days’
maintenance with Lufthansa
Technik Malta before
being due for repainting by
Aviation Cosmetics Malta.Oman ordered two A320s
in January 2007: delivered
in January and December
of 2009, they replaced the
BAC 1-11-485 aircraft in thedual troop and VIP transport
roles. A third Airbus, ordered
in August 2010, arrived
in Oman in September
the following year.Qatar orders 28 NH90s and 16 H125s
THE MINISTRY of Defence
of Qatar has announced
contracts to buy 28 NH90
and 16 H125 helicopters.
Revealed on March 15
at the Doha International
Maritime Defence Exhibition
and Conference (DIMDEX)
in Qatar, the €3bn-plus deal
includes 16 NH90 Tactical
Transport Helicopters
(TTHs) and 12 NH90 NATO
Frigate Helicopters (NFHs).It also covers a support
and maintenance training
services package and related
infrastructure, and there
are options for a further 12
units, evenly split between
TTH and NFH variants.
The NFHs will not be
equipped for anti-submarine
warfare but will have the
European Navy Radar (ENR)
maritime surveillance radar,
a Safran electro-opticalsystem and Elettronica
DETE-90 electronic
intelligence/support
measures system. They will
also be armed with MBDA
Marte ER anti-ship missiles.
As prime contractor,
Leonardo will be responsible
for final assembly and
delivery of the 12 NFHs
at its Venice-Tessera
facility as well as an eight-
year support and trainingservices package for
crews and maintainers.
Airbus will meanwhile
be responsible for final
assembly of the 16 TTHs
at Marignane in France.
NH90 deliveries are
expected to start before
June 2022 and continue
until 2025. The contract also
includes 12 H125 training
helicopters for the Qatar
Armed Forces Air Academy.Omani A320 heads for maintenance
Above: Typhoon serial 8009 on the type’s fi rst deployment to the US in RSAF service at Exercise Red Flag 17-4 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, last
August. Nate Leong
SAUDI ARABIA has made
the first step towards
buying 48 more Eurofighter
Typhoons by signing a
memorandum of intent
(MOI) on March 9.
Manufacturer BAE
Systems announced
the MOI to the LondonStock Exchange, and it’s
understood to have been
signed by the Crown
Prince of Saudi Arabia,
Mohammad Bin Salman
Al Saud, and UK Defence
Secretary Gavin Williamson
during a meeting at RAF
Northolt in west London.The UK and Saudi Arabia
issued a joint statement
saying the MOI would “aim
to finalise discussions
for the purchase of 48
Typhoon aircraft”.
Under Project Salam,
Saudi Arabia signed a deal
in September 2007 for 72Typhoons, comprising 18
two-seat aircraft and 54
single-seaters. The plan
at that time had been for
the first 24 (18 single- and
six two-seaters) to be built
by BAE at Warton, with the
other 48 (36/12) assembled
in Saudi Arabia by AlsalamAircraft in Riyadh. A later
decision saw all the jets built
at Warton – the first aircraft
leaving the Lancashire site
on delivery to the Royal
Saudi Air Force (RSAF)
on June 23, 2009. The
last of the 72 on order left
Warton on June 6 last year.Ruben Zammit