Aircraft
Saudi deals done for helos and Typhoons
Saudi Arabia and the UK have already concluded the huge contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets that has been in negotiation for 18 months, informe

Saudi Arabia and the UK have already concluded the huge contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets that has been in negotiation for 18 months, informed sources told Aviation International News yesterday. The deal will be worth about $16 billion for the airframes alone. At his lunch with President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris today, Saudi King Abdullah may shake hands on another large package of more than 130 Eurocopter helicopters worth about $8 billion.

It is not clear when the UK government will confirm the signing of the Typhoon contract. One source suggested that the Saudi government wants both the outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair, and his incoming successor Gordon Brown, to be associated with the announcement. That might make it next week, when the handover is due.