Germany open to further Eurofighter sales to Saudi Arabia

Reuters/Inquam Photos/George Calin

Germany is willing to allow further deliveries of Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia, its foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said.

“We do not see the German government opposing British considerations for more Eurofighters for Saudi Arabia,” Reuters reported, citing the minister’s comments on a trip to Israel.

Last month, Saudi Arabia approved its 2024 budget, which allocated SAR269 billion ($71.73 billion) for defence spending.

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The Eurofighter project is a joint British, German, Italian and Spanish venture.

In October 2018, Britain signed a preliminary order for Saudi Arabia to purchase 48 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.

However, arms sales to the kingdom were halted following the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Saudi Arabia is set to maintain one of the world’s highest defence expenditures relative to GDP, GlobalData said in a report issued in September 2023.

Defence spending will grow 4.5 percent a year to $86.4 billion in 2028, from $65.3 billion in 2022.

Major Saudi procurements in recent years included the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, Raytheon’s Patriot missile system and Lockheed’s Thaad – terminal high altitude area defence – system. 

Saudi Arabia signed a $6.7 billion deal in June 2023 with Airbus to manufacture civilian and military helicopters in the kingdom.