Saudi’s to award defense contracts to French

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz Al-Saud is expected to award defense contracts to French defense contractors worth $20 billion. Official notification will come this fall during an official visit to Saudi Arabia by Jacques Chirac.

The decision was apparently based on earlier defense contracts that bypassed France’s Rafale jet fighter in favor of the Eurofighter for the Royal Saudi Air Force. Al-Saud’s list of defense equipment is rumored to include naval helicopters equipped for anti-submarine warfare and a possible order of a submarine itself.

Saudi Defense Spending:

USD20 billion (2005)
USD856 per Head of Population
USD154,940 per Member of the Armed Forces
7.9 per cent of GDP (2005)