According to the US air Force life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) at the us air base Wright-Patterson (Ohio), on December 10, 2020, the delivery of all 84 new - built Boeing f-15SA Eagle multi-role fighters to the Saudi air force was completed under an intergovernmental agreement in 2011. The AFLCMC center, in accordance with standard practice, is responsible from the US air force for work on exported aircraft under the us intergovernmental foreign military sales program Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in case of significant modification.
Boeing F-15SA Eagle fighters of the Saudi air force (C) twitter.com/MbKS15
Recall that under the us-Saudi intergovernmental agreement on the FMS line, finalized in December 2011 and which at that time became the largest defense contract in history, Saudi Arabia was to receive 84 new-built Boeing f-15SA multi-role fighters, as well as convert 70 previously received F-15S into this version (then reduced to 68, and then to 66). Taking into account the supply of equipment and large quantities of weapons for these aircraft, the total value of the agreement is 29.432 billion dollars (an official notification of the upcoming delivery with a list of planned assets was issued by the US Department of defense in October 2010).
The first Boeing-built f-15SA (US air force number 12-1001, serial number SA1) made its first flight in February 2013, and the entire f-15SA development program was designed for 18 months. According to the contract schedule, deliveries of F-15SA aircraft to the Saudi air force were to begin in September 2014, when the first of 12 vehicles intended for training Saudi flight and ground personnel in the United States were to be transferred, and deliveries of the next production F-15SA directly to Saudi Arabia were planned from January 2015. It was planned to complete deliveries of the new-built F-15SA by the beginning of 2018.
However, the actual start of deliveries was delayed by more than two years and the first two new-built F-15SA aircraft and the first two upgraded by Boeing from F-15S were delivered to Saudi Arabia only on December 13, 2016. It was reported that by June 2016, Boeing had already produced 40 new-built f-15SA fighters, but their delivery was delayed. Finally, the transfer of all 84 new F-15S to the Saudi side has only now been completed (while at least three Saudi aircraft remain at Wright-Patterson air base).
In 2015 [...], serious problems were reported in the new f-15SA electric control system, in addition, there were reports of delays in the integration of f-15SA onboard systems, as well as missile weapons. Saudi sources also expressed suspicions about the possible political nature of the "delays". The beginning of deliveries of aircraft in December 2016 "under the curtain" of the outgoing Obama administration, apparently, confirmed in part the political nature of delaying the delivery of F-15SA.
Serial modernization of f-15S fighters to the level of F-15SA (also used the designation F-15SR) from kits received from the United States is carried out by the Saudi state company Alsalam Aerospace Industries (AAI). This includes a significant redesign of the airframes, with the replacement of the front part of the fuselage, as well as the wing (new wings are supplied by AFLCMC). The start of work on this part of the F-15SA program was also significantly delayed. AAI accepted the first F-15S for conversion from the Saudi air force on October 21, 2018, and received 10 F-15S by June 2020. Work on the modernization of the first was completed only in June 2020. In General, the completion of the f-15S upgrade program to the F-15SA (F-15SR) level in Saudi Arabia is planned only by June 2026.
The F-15SA aircraft is equipped with a Raytheon an/APG-63(V)3 afar radar, a BAE Systems DEWS defense system, Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting containers and Lockheed Martin Tiger Eyes navigation system, as well as an integrated Lockheed Martin AN/AAS-42 electronic optical system.
