Qatar makes formal request to US to buy F-35 fighter jets
- 3 years ago
Qatar has submitted a formal request to the United States to buy stealthy F-35 fighter jets, according to sources.
The request for the Lockheed Martin Co LMT N jets was submitted by Qatar in recent weeks, the sources said.
A US State Department spokesman said, “As a matter of policy, the United States does not confirm or comment on proposed defence sales or transfers until they are formally notified to Congress.”
The US and Qatar have close ties. In September Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met in Washington as the US hopes to move forward with naming Qatar as a major non-NATO ally.
A formal letter of request typically contains specifications that would be used to furnish pricing data to a customer, but currently the F-35A, a fifth generation stealthy fighter jet, costs around $80 million.
Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington D.C., additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Chris Sanders and Edward Tobin / REUTERS
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