KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait will buy 28 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets to replace a fleet of earlier versions of the US fighter jets, a top official said Monday.
The value of the deal is not expected to exceed $5 billion, the KUNA state news agency reported the head of armament and procurement at Kuwait’s defence ministry as saying.
Major General Lafi al-Azemi said the deal stipulates the supplier will re-purchase the old Hornet fighter jets from Kuwait.
The US State Department this month said it has authorised the deal, as well as the sale of 72 F-15 Strike Eagle jets to Kuwait’s Gulf neighbour Qatar at an estimated value of $21 billion.
In April, Kuwait signed a contract with Italy’s Finmeccanica for the purchase of 28 Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes for under eight billion euros ($8.5 billion).
Kuwait’s parliament in March approved spending an additional $500 million as an advance payment for the jets.
That funding came on top of $10 billion additional defence spending already approved by parliament in January to upgrade the country’s military.—APP
