Following US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, aerospace and defense giant Boeing has revealed plans to sell military and commercial aircrafts to the oil-rich Saudis. According to the CEO of Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg, the military and commercial agreements between both countries will provide more jobs for Americans and also provide regional security for the Saudis.
It is now obvious that President Trump’s first ever overseas tour as president is already bearing fruits, even though millions of people back home are disgruntled with his administration. Trump gave a speech in Riyadh on Sunday and encouraged Muslim-dominated countries to increase security surveillance and fight terrorism to a standstill. The speech was widely watched back home in America.
The president’s new efforts to strengthen national ties with Saudi Arabia and the resultant Boeing deal is estimated to run into hundreds of billions of dollars. According to Boeing, the US will be selling Chinook helicopters together with all support services and other guided weapons systems to the Saudis. The country will also be buying several P-8 reconnaissance, patrol and maritime aircraft.
That is not all. The US is also encouraging Saudi Arabia to purchase about 16 widebody airplanes for the SaudiGulf Airlines.
Boeing CEO Mulienburg disclosed that the multi-billion deals will foster cooperative alliances between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He noted that the signed agreements will promote economic growth, prosperity and national security between the two countries, USA TODAY reports.
Apart from the sales of military and passenger aircrafts to Saudi, the US is also looking into setting up a joint venture to sustain Saudi Arabia on a wide range of military platforms. Several other countries, among them Nigeria, explored ways to purchase military aircraft from the US in her fight against the rampaging Boko Haram terrorists without success under former President Obama’s administration.
President Trump has not ruled out the chances of selling military assets to Nigeria to combat terrorism, but it remains to be seen whether the luck for the Saudis will rub off on Nigerians where the purchase of military aircrafts is concerned.