F-16, F-15, Rafale and Su-35 for Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and Iran - four major fighter jet deals will change the largest militaries in the Middle East

For decades, Middle Eastern countries have been buying advanced fighter jets, sometimes even in record numbers. For example, five years ago, Saudi Arabia purchased 84 F-15SA aircraft worth $60 billion. The deal was the largest export contract in the history of the U.S. Department of Defence.

Two years ago, the United Arab Emirates ordered 80 Rafale fighters worth $19bn. The deal was the largest foreign order for France's Dassault Rafale.

The countries in the region now have the second, third and fourth largest fleets of F-16s in the world. Israel, meanwhile, will have 75 fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighters after the $3bn deal. Only the US and Japan have more.

The trend will continue. In the coming years, four more countries may conclude important deals. We're talking about Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Egypt, which have their eyes on American, French and Russian fighter jets.

F-16 Fighting Falcon for Turkey

Turkey originally planned to purchase F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. Ankara wanted 100 of the fifth-generation aircraft to replace the 270 outdated F-16 Fighting Falcon. However, the $2.5bn purchase of Russia's S-400 air defence systems left the country without the F-35s, and so far it has no way of getting the F-16s.

In 2021, Turkey requested the purchase of 40 F-16s and modernisation kits from the US after the F-35 project was dropped. The potential deal was valued at $20bn. It seemed that the ice had been touched. Ankara agreed to ratify Sweden's application to join NATO, but a key US senator is blocking the fighter jet sale.

In parallel, Turkey began modernising the old F-16 Block 30s with its own resources, using domestic manufacturers. TAI and Aselsan recently signed two contracts worth almost $2bn.

The first modernised aircraft was unveiled in mid-May 2023. The Turkish project has been named ÖZGÜR. It allows for an upgrade of fighter jets that will match the Block 70/72 level. The fighters will get a new digital cockpit, radar with active phased array antennae and the Turkish equivalent of the Link 16 system, which provides communication with other aircraft.

Although the programme has already begun, Turkey needs the US upgrade kits. This will allow the country to ensure the F-16 fleet is combat capable for a decade until Turkey's fifth-generation KAAN fighter, which could cost more than $100 million, becomes available. If Turkey is able to buy the planes from the U.S., it would be the biggest deal between the countries in the past 10 years.

Su-35 for Iran

After the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, russia had to look for new arms suppliers. The main one was Iran, which delivered hundreds of drones across the Caspian Sea and by civilian aircraft. The main emphasis was placed on Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones. Ukraine's Air Force shoots down dozens of such drones almost daily.

The US administration said Russia would pay Iran back with Su-35 fighter jets. Two dozen of the planes were intended for Egypt, but the African country refused to buy them for fear of being hit by US sanctions.

Iran has not bought a fourth-generation fighter jet in more than 30 years, since it ordered the MiG-29A from the Soviet Union in 1990. Much of Iran's fleet is now 40 years old. The aircraft were bought before 1979, when the country was a US ally and bought a batch of F-14A Tomcats, becoming the only foreign operator.

For a long time there was no information about the deal between Iran and Russia, after which there were rumours about the start of deliveries. Recently, however, it became known that Tehran may give up the Su-35. The reason is the reluctance of the Russian government to transfer technology.

Rafale for Iraq

Iraq is preparing to sign its first contract to buy fighter jets from France in decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, Saddam Hussein's government ordered 133 Mirage F1 aircraft. This time Baghdad is targeting the Dassault Rafale.

Iraq's most significant purchase in recent years has been 36 F-16C/D Fighting Falcon aircraft from the US. Less significant purchases have been Czech L-159s and South Korean T-50s.

Iraq began receiving F-16s less than 10 years ago. However, maintenance problems have called into question the future of the US aircraft. They now play an important role due to the limited use of Russian helicopters, as Baghdad cannot get components from Russia in the required volumes due to the war in Ukraine.

With the purchase of 14 Rafale fighters, Iraq will try to improve its air defence rather than increase its strike capability. For this reason, it will hope that France will agree to sell Meteor air-to-air missiles. The US, it will be recalled, has decided not to supply Iraq with AIM-120 AMRAAMs.

F-15 Eagle for Egypt

Since 1979, Egypt has relied on U.S. equipment when it comes to arms purchases. The African country purchased F-16 fighter jets, M1 Abrams tanks and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters.

The US successfully sold F-15 Eagle to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but not to Egypt. This was part of the agreements between Washington and Tel Aviv that were reached in 2002. In addition, Egypt never received the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, which severely limited its air defence capabilities.

After years of co-operation with the US, Egypt, which had never achieved the purchase of F-15s, turned to Russia. In 2014, Cairo ordered about four dozen MiG-29s at a cost of $2bn, and another four years later it signed a contract to buy Su-35s for the same amount.

As we wrote above, Egypt rejected the Su-35 for fear of sanctions. But now it has renewed hope to get American fourth-generation F-15 Eagle fighters. But for this it is important to get approval from Israel, which is being actively reinforced with F-35i Adir aircraft.

At the same time, there is still no information about which version of the F-15 will be offered to Egypt. It is not ruled out that the US is in the process of selling the F-15EX Eagle II. The cost of the aircraft for the US Air Force may exceed $100 million.

Source: MSN (Business Insider)