U.S. Saudi fighter jet sale to help offset Iran

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has signed a $29.4 billion deal to sell 84 new F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a long-expected move that the Obama administration said on Thursday would boost Gulf security amid mounting tension with Iran.

The deal is the single priciest U.S. arms sale to a foreign country, dwarfing previous multibillion-dollar sales to Saudi Arabia, for years the biggest U.S. arms buyer.

The sale includes the 84 advanced Boeing F-15SA fighters with cutting-edge Raytheon Co radar equipment and digital electronic warfare systems for which BAE Systems Plc is the key supplier.

Also included are upgrades that will bring Saudi Arabia's 70 older F-15s up to the new standard, as well as HARM AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles, Laser JDAM and Enhanced Paveway munitions and related equipment and services.

The deal was formally sealed by Saudi Arabia last Saturday, days before Iran repeated threats to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to mounting U.S. and European economic sanctions over its disputed nuclear program.

Administration officials described the advanced F-15s as designed to bolster overall Saudi defences in an uncertain region.

"In the Middle East right now, there's a number of threats," Andrew Shapiro, assistant U.S. secretary of state for political-military affairs, told a news briefing. "Clearly one of the threats that they face, as well as other countries in the region, is Iran," he said.

But the sale was "not solely directed" toward Iran, Shapiro said. "This is directed toward meeting our partner Saudi Arabia's defence needs," he said.