Archive for Our Scotland - www.our-scotland.org Scottish Politics Discussion Forum / Messageboard - Dedicated to online discussion about Scottish Politics and an Independent Scotland, as well as Scottish Society today. We also have a section dedicated to Banter, Sport and Recommended Sites.
|
SLG
|
BAE takes off on Saudi jets dealAh well, if we didn't sell to them, someone else would, right?
| Quote: | BAE takes off on Saudi jets deal
By Philip Aldrick and Stephen Seawright
(Filed: 18/08/2006)
The Government has signed a record £10bn export agreement with Saudi Arabia for the Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet, giving the defence industry a welcome boost and lifting shares in BAE Systems 3pc.
Saudi Arabia is taking up to 72 of the jets in a contract that will extend Britain's biggest export deal for the next 25 years.
The agreement is part of the controversial Al Yamamah arms agreement with Riyadh, struck 20 years ago but still mired in obfuscation and allegations of corruption.
The jets will replace the British-made Tornado and other planes in a move that marks defeat for France's Dassault Aviation, which was hoping for its first export customer for the Rafale combat jet. Its stock was down 0.6pc in Paris.
The Saudi deal for the 72 £56m planes is key because it is the biggest export deal for the Eurofighter jets and the only one outside Europe. Development of the jets ran well over-budget.
BAE will lead Eurofighter's activities in Saudi Arabia as part of a system whereby individual members within the consortium, which includes EADS and Italy's Finmeccanica, take the lead in negotiations.
The jets are likely to be assembled in the UK, at Warton, Lancashire, where BAE employs 9,000 people. BAE may benefit further through maintenance contracts.
Shares in the company, Europe's largest defence firm, were up 2.8pc at 370p. Rolls-Royce also supplies components for the Eurofighter and saw its shares rise more than 1pc.
The Ministry of Defence released a statement today confirming that the "commercial principles" of the deal have been agreed.
It said: "Saudi Arabia and Great Britain [have] signed an Understanding Document, intended to establish a greater partnership in modernising the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces.
"The required commercial principles have now been agreed, which has initiated the purchase of Typhoon aircraft and the associated commitment to the industrial plan to be launched."
Saudi Arabia has a long history of buying arms from Britain dating back to the 1960s, and usually pays in oil.
It is an important customer for arms dealers as it spends 12pc of its GDP on weapons - four times as much as most European countries.
The Serious Fraud Office opened a probe in 2004 into suspected accounting irregularities related to the Al Yamamah deal, the latest version of which was signed in 1994 and involved BAE supplying the kingdom with aircraft, ships and associated support.
BAE has denied wrongdoing, but SFO investigators have been refused access to a 14-year-old report by the National Audit Office into the deal - the only NAO report ever to remain unpublished. |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/...ml?xml=/money/2006/08/18/ubae.xml
|
|
|
|