According to the French daily La Tribune, the Saudi Arabian Air Force turned to the French Rafale after Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. La Tribune claims that Riyadh preferred acquiring 54 Rafale fighters over the Eurofighter Typhoon and the American F-15. Until November 10, the final offer of the French Dassault Aviation is expected for the total cost of the 54 fighters accompanied by a package of support, weapons and other services.
The Saudi Kingdom has been requesting to acquire Eurofighter Typhoon, but Germany blocked the sales due to the ongoing war with Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
Eurofighter consortium’s partner Airbus’ Chief Executive Guillaume Faury has criticised the German government’s position in a newspaper interview. Faury said, “The German government’s stance on arms exports to some countries is a real problem,” to the business daily Handelsblatt.
