Riyadh Is Moving To The Next Generation Of Weaponry

• 17.05.2025, 19:34

Israel will have to catch up.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have signed a $142 billion defense procurement agreement. That's a large sum even for Saudi Arabia, wrote detaly.co.il.

For comparison, suffice it to say that Saudi Arabia's total military budget is $78 billion - roughly half the amount Riyadh will pay for weapons to the United States. This means that the current giant deal represents a strategic step forward for Saudi Arabia.

"The Saudis are taking a leap with this deal," said a source involved in the international arms trade. - In doing so, they are moving to the next generation in all areas - whether it's passenger planes or space technology they want to master."

The types of systems Saudi Arabia will purchase have not yet been announced and are likely to be generally still to be agreed upon. For now, the agreement defines the financial framework of the deal between the governments, based on an overall estimate of the weapons, equipment and gear Saudi Arabia needs, which the U.S. is willing to provide.

A team of executives from U.S. weapons giants such as RTX, Northrop Grumman and Boeing is expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to finalize the details.

It is not yet known whether the Saudis will get approval to buy F-35 jets - at a cost of $110 million per plane - but even without them, the Saudis will have no problem finding American weapons and ammunition to spend their money on.

The cost of modern F-15 jets, which Saudi Arabia already owns, is about $100 million apiece. It would cost many billions of dollars to buy modern F-15s or upgrade the F-15s owned by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis need numerous missile batteries and radar systems to protect the country's coastline, which is more than 2,500 kilometers long. As for the SM3 missile defense launcher, the estimated cost of one launch is 10-30 million dollars.

The Saudis need THAAD-type systems to combat ballistic missiles launched from Iran. The cost of such a missile defense battery is a billion dollars. Each interceptor missile it launches costs $8 million.

"Take quality, not quantity."

The Israeli Defense Ministry and the defense industry are watching these deals with interest and concern. The giant Saudi deal is now expected to intensify the arms race in which Israel is already engaged.

Saudi Arabia is not a hostile country, but Israel must compare its military capabilities with those of Saudi Arabia. As a senior source put it, "Things can turn upside down in the Middle East. One day this army will be the one we will have to confront. And this major deal reminds us how small we are. We don't have the ability to compete with Saudi Arabia on quantity of weapons. Only in quality."

The United States still says it believes it has a duty to provide Israel with a qualitative advantage over the military capabilities of Muslim countries. But as countries like Saudi Arabia improve their capabilities, the budgets Israel has to allocate to maintain that advantage have increased.

The intensifying arms race is good news for Israeli companies. However, along with the growing demand for Israeli weapons, Israeli industry does not like the exclusivity that marks the Saudi deal and the additional deals that await American arms companies after Trump's visit to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

In the years since the Abraham Accords, the Gulf states have become an important target of arms deals for Israeli companies. The future normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia could have enormous potential for Israel. However, President Donald Trump's current visit is designed to ensure that this market ends up in American hands.

It is almost symbolic that, in parallel with this week's visit, the Saudis proudly announced the first THAAD system manufactured in their country, the result of U.S.-Saudi cooperation - a move reminiscent of cooperation between Israeli and American companies.

"It is doubtful that the Americans will allow them to buy Israeli systems," said a source involved in arms purchases from U.S. companies Aviation systems from Taasiya Avirit (Israel Aerospace Industries), or the flight helmet made by Elbit.

So orders going to Lockheed Martin, Boeing and other companies could lead to increased production of these systems in Israel as well. However, this increase is not very significant. A huge potential for Israeli industry could lie in normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia.

"Normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia could open up a huge market for Elbit Systems or Israel Aerospace Industries. Right now we are talking about a deal with the United States, which we have nothing to do with. The components that Israeli companies supply for American products will not have a big impact on us," said Omri Efroni, an analyst at Oppenheimer Investment House who covers the industry.

A senior Israeli defense industry official also stressed that the real potential could lie in normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia: "Our sales to the Gulf countries are insignificant now. There were times when they were higher. We have to wait and see how strictly Trump will guard the interests of American industry."

"If the Saudis don't put all their eggs in the basket of Trump and the American military industry, there may be something left for Israel. The Saudis and Emiratis have bought weapons from all over the world. So we may have potential."

For the moment, however, the Israeli government's insistence on continuing the war in Gaza blocks the possibility of such normalization. In the absence of this factor, Israeli companies are left to watch the jubilation of the U.S. military industry and wonder what would happen if they were not excluded.