Saudi Arabia plans to buy U.S. military transport planesNovember 10, 2012 - 10:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Saudi Arabia plans to buy 20 C-130J military transport planes, five KC-130J refueling aircraft and related equipment from Lockheed Martin Corp. valued at about $6.7 billion, the Pentagon said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the potential sale to Saudi Arabia, the agency said in a statement posted on its website. It said Saudi Arabia needs the airplanes to “sustain its aging fleet, which faces increasing obsolescence.” The C-130J-30 variant of the four-engine turbo-prop plane that Saudi Arabia is seeking has 15 extra feet of fuselage compared with the plane’s standard model, according to Lockheed, the plane’s maker. The extra space lets the plane carry two additional cargo pallets, according to Lockheed’s website. The KC-130 J refueling plane is also made by Bethesda, Maryland- based Lockheed. The proposed “sale to Saudi Arabia represents the largest foreign military sale of C-130s in the program’s history,” Peter Simmons, a Lockheed spokesman said in an e-mail. Lockheed Martin rose 64 cents to $90.56 at 1 p.m. in New York trading after climbing 11 percent this year. The possible sale also includes 120 engines, including 20 spares made by London-based Rolls Royce Holdings Plc, and 25 Link-16 Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems made by Rockwell Collins Inc. based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Saudi Arabia received its first C-130 in 1965, according to Lockheed Martin’s website. The Middle East kingdom now operates 50 older models of the transports, Simmons said. The proposed sale of the transport planes follows the Pentagon’s announcement this week that Qatar and United Arab Emirates are seeking U.S. missile defense systems valued at as much as $16.4 billion. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day May 17 commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union on May 17, 1865. Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. |