| Al Yamamah |
Article Index for Al |
Information AboutAl Yamamah |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AL YAMAMAH | |
| bae systems | |
| british political scandals | |
| corporate scandals | |
| foreign relations of saudi arabia | |
| foreign relations of the united kingdom | |
| royal saudi air force | |
|
Al Yamamah () is the name of a series of a record Arms Sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia , which have been paid for by the delivery of up to 600,000 Barrels of Oil per day to the UK Government .1 The prime contractor has been BAE Systems and its predecessor British Aerospace . The first sales occurred in September 1985 and the most recent contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters was signed in August 2006. Mike Turner , the CEO of BAE Systems, said in August 2005 that BAE and its predecessor had earned £43 billion in twenty years from the contracts and that it could earn £40 billion more.2 It is Britain's largest ever export agreement, and employs some 5,000 people in Saudi Arabia.3 BACKGROUND The UK was already a major supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia prior to Al Yamamah. In 1964 The British Aircraft Corporation conducted demonstration flights of their Lightning in Riyadh and in 1965 Saudi Arabia signed a letter of intent for the supply of Lightning and Strikemaster aircraft as well as Thunderbird surface to air missiles. The main contract was signed in 1966 for 40 Lightnings and 25 Strikemasters (eventually raised to 40). In 1973 the Saudi government signed an agreement with the British government which specified BAC as the contractor for all parts of the defence system ( AEI was previously contracted to supply the radar equipment and Airwork Services provided servicing and training). Overall spending by the RSAF was over £1 billion GBP. 4 In the 1970s United States defence contractors won major contracts, including 114 Northrop F-5 s. In 1981 the RSAF ordered 46 F-15Cs and 16 F-15Ds, followed in 1982 by the purchase of 5 E-3A AWACS aircraft. Partly due to pro-Israeli sentiment in the U.S. Congress, which would have either blocked a deal or insisted on usage restrictions for exported aircraft, Saudi Arabia turned to the UK for further arms purchases.5 SUMMARY Although the full extent of the deal has never been fully clarified, it has been described as "the biggest {Link without Title} sale of anything to anyone". At a minimum, it is believed to involve the supply and support of 96 Panavia Tornado ground attack aircraft, 24 Air Defence Variants (ADVs), 50 BAE Hawk and 50 Pilatus PC-9 aircraft, specialised naval vessels, and various infrastructure works. The initial Memorandum of Understanding committed the UK to purchasing the obsolete Lightning and Strikemaster aircraft, along with associated equipment and spare parts.6 The UK government’s prime contractor for the project is BAE Systems. BAE has approximately 4,000 employees working directly with the Royal Saudi Air Force (also see Military Of Saudi Arabia ). The success of the initial contract has been attributed to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , who lobbied hard on behalf of British industry. A Ministry of Defence briefing paper for Thatcher detailed her involvement in the negotations:7
|
|
|