Considering BAEs excellent links to Saudi-Arabia during the last 20 years in which they provided the Saudis with 43 Billion Pounds worth of services and military goods I think the Eurofighter Typhoon has very good chances.

BAE steps up Saudi effort

BAE Systems is advancing efforts to expand its Al Yamamah arms agreement with Saudi Arabia, launching flight tests of a potential upgrade to its Panavia Tornado interdictor strike aircraft and promoting future sales of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Three Saudi Tornado sustainment programme demonstrators are being flight tested by BAE, with these likely to introduce some capabilities developed for the UK Royal Air Force’s Tornado GR4 upgrade, such as improved air-to-surface weapons. BAE chief executive Mike Turner says: “The objective is to get the Typhoon into Saudi Arabia. We’ve had £43 billion [$78 billion] from Al Yamamah over the last 20 years and there could be another £40 billion.”

Link:
http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/2005/06/21/Navigation/181/199774/+BAE+steps+up+Saudi+effort.html

I applaud the post of esp49129, so much sense in one post, it’s nearly disturbing!!! 🙂

I’m going to lean out of the window and say they’ll buy the Eurofighter Typhoon, mainly because of good BAe connections. 🙂

[QUOTE]The q

uestion is even more basic.. Why should any Euro country need JSF at all? Except two dozen VTOLs for Asturias and Garibaldi, why should we support US industry without appropriate return? Let the US armed forces buy two hundred EH101s first, then we shall think of starting to talk about the JSF deal at all..

lol, actually the US101 (based on the EH101) has sold 26 examples already and it’s a frontrunner in the PRV, for another 140. 🙂

This would be correct if there was no european military aerospace industry to feed (with R&D) and if the european compagnies were unable to develop their own equivalent state of the art technologies.

This is not the case and moreover :

1- the european will not get exactly the same “stealthy latest generation fighter” as the US (they will get the playscool version instead)

2- They will have zero source code and will depend on the USA on almost everything

3- minor workshare on minor sub-systems

Considering point 1, 2 and 3 it would have been the same to buy the jsf off the shelf after a good old contest in order to get a nice price.

BTW it seems like Italy begins to understand that the jsf is a european R&D money trap : they have just get in the neuron project.

1) This isn’t sure yet at all, it may be like you say Kovy, it may be not. 😀
2) Again we have about 5 years to sort this out, if it doesn’t get resolved it will be a big problem.
3) That is IMHO just not true, non US workshare in the JSF is about 25%. BAE alone has a 17% share in production and development, including lasers (UK), rear-fuselage (UK), fuel system (UK), Electronic warfare system (USA). I’ll post a complete list of UK parts in the JSF later.

Yeah, right. Several european countries will buy 100% MADE IN USA F-35.
How many important american programs has used totally made in europe systems ?
Look at the competition about Marines One, it’s two american chopper.

Well about those US101s, the first 7 of 26 will be built in the UK and assembled in the UK, all other 16 will have major UK/Italian components and only final assembly will be in the USA.l

I hope EADS wins, the commonality between the C295 and A400M would make it likelier for Canada to go A400M in some years time.

BAe has a UCAV in the works called “Nightjar”.