State Department clears $24.3 billion F-35 package for Saudi Arabia

The US State Department on 17 September approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of 48 F-35A Lightning II fighters and 49 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines, at an estimated cost of $24.3 billion.

The notice, filed as Transmittal 26-69 by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, also lists AN/PYQ-10 simple key loaders, KIV-78 cryptographic appliques, secure communications gear, electronic warfare database support, spare parts, training devices and an engine component improvement programme. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines in East Hartford would be the prime contractors.

Congress now has a 30-day review. Lawmakers can try to block the package. Most arms notices pass. This one will not be quiet.

What the notice claims, and what it does not settle

The State Department said the sale would improve the security of a major non-NATO ally and would “not alter the military balance in the region.” It said Saudi forces can absorb the aircraft. It said the jets would strengthen homeland defence and interoperability with US, regional and NATO units.

Those sentences sit beside two objections that have followed the aircraft since Riyadh first asked for it in 2017. Israel has flown the F-35 since 2016 and is still the only operator in the Middle East. US law and practice have long treated Israel’s qualitative military edge as a condition of other regional sales. The notice asserts the balance will hold. It does not explain how, beyond the standard formula.

The second objection is China. The New York Times reported this week that US intelligence assessments warn Beijing could gain access to F-35 technology through its ties with the kingdom, including Chinese-made communications kit already in Saudi networks and earlier Chinese help on ballistic missiles. The State Department announcement does not address those assessments.

The political timeline

President Donald Trump said in November 2025, on the eve of a Washington visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that the United States planned to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia. The Biden administration had kept the file cold. The Thursday notice is the first formal step that puts numbers, engines and a dollar figure in front of Congress.

Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman lobbied in Washington about two months ago, according to reporting in Washington, with Riyadh hoping to move the file before the midterm elections. A separate conventional arms package for the kingdom was notified earlier this month. Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon filed a joint resolution of disapproval against that earlier sale. A similar fight on the F-35 notice is expected.

The House has already left early for recess. That calendar may delay a floor fight even if the 30-day clock is running.

What 48 jets would change in the Gulf

If production and delivery are completed, a process measured in years, Saudi Arabia would join a group of about 20 international F-35 operators. The United Arab Emirates pursued the same aircraft and ran into the same China questions. Those talks stalled. A Saudi buy would put the fifth-generation jet on both sides of the Gulf and on both sides of the Israel-Saudi file.

The timing is not abstract. Houthi forces have struck Saudi oil and military sites in the past week. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Friday it hit a Togo-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The State Department framed the package as deterrence against “current and future threats.” The threats in the notice are not named. The week’s news supplies them.

Unit cost is not broken out in the public notice. Twenty-four point three billion dollars for 48 airframes, 49 engines and a long tail of support is the headline figure. Sustainment over the life of the fleet will add more. Fort Worth and East Hartford would book the work. Saudi pilots and maintainers would need years of training before the first squadron is useful.

The open question in Congress

Qualitative military edge language, China-risk language and the war around Hormuz will all be used in the next month. Supporters will point to the November pledge and to Saudi requests that date to 2017. Opponents will ask why the intelligence concerns published this week do not appear in the notice.

The sale is not complete. It is a clearance to begin the congressional clock. Riyadh has the political win of a published number. Lockheed and Pratt have a line of sight on a contract. The aircraft themselves remain on paper until the 30 days pass and the money is signed.