Welt am Sonntag: European aircraft deal to the UAE and Saudi Arabia ignites dispute in Germany
Western media reported that a dispute had erupted between German officials regarding a possible sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The British government is pressing to complete the deal, which has been frozen for five years, due to the suspension of arms sales to the warring parties in Yemen.
Last Saturday, German Welt am Sonntag newspaper said, quoting its sources, that the German coalition government doesn’t agree on whether it will bow to British pressure and agree to produce Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft for Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Five years ago, Riyadh signed a deal with BAE Systems, the arms industry, to supply 48 of this type of aircraft.
The deal was suspended due to the war in Yemen after the intervention of the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces in 2015.
Britain froze the deal by court ruling in 2019, after a local court ruled that licenses to export arms to Saudi Arabia weren’t legal.
It’s worth mentioning that Germany has strong position in terms of Eurofighter Typhoon production, because a third of the aircraft components are produced in Germany.
On February 21, Military Watch magazine said that a potential deal long been confirmed for the sale Chinese L-15 lightweight fighter jets to an Arab country.
Military Watch stated that such a contract with the UAE was first talked about in February 2022, but it wasn’t confirmed, and although the L-15 aircraft serves in the Chinese Air Force as a fighter in the first place, it has Its combat performance is superior to any other fighter in the world.
