The situation in the Middle East is rising again, and the UAE F35 contract will be signed - Aviation News - [Wickway]
A senior official from the US State Department stated that it was sold toUAE F-35 ContractIt is likely to be signed before the end of the Trump administration. Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs, R. Clark Cooper, told reporters in a phone interview on Friday that contracts signed before January 20th "are all on this track. US Congress members have previously expressed concerns that the agreement is too rushed, so a contract can be reached before the Biden administration takes over. Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State candidate for President elect Joe Biden, told reporters at the end of October that this agreement "will be studied very, very carefully", but once the contract is signed, it will become more difficult to change the agreement.
You can imagine that without a contract, they would happen at different times... there would be different contract signings, different products, and different deliveries, "Cooper explained. Why? You're talking about different main enterprise elements, or different members of defense industrial bases, as well as conditions related to specific platforms or systems.
But, yes, what I mean is that everything is on track. As we have discussed, sales have certainly integrated well across agencies and passed through our Congress
The estimated price for this transaction in the UAE is $23.37 billion, including up to 50 F-35A fighter jets worth $10.4 billion, 18 MQ-9B drones worth $2.97 billion, and air-to-air and air to ground ammunition worth $10 billion. (These total amounts in US dollars are estimated and may change during the final negotiation period.)
The fact proves that this deal is worrying politically in Congress. Democratic lawmakers have expressed opposition to this potential sale, stating that it ignores the risks posed by sensitive military technology in the UAE's relations with Russia and China. Some people also express concerns about the threat to Israel's military advantage in the Middle East. However, the Senate's attempt to block arms sales in December last year failed, mainly along party lines. The first vote involved drones and ammunition, which did not pass by 46-50, and the second vote involved F-35, which did not pass by 47-49.