Saudi Arabia signed a £4.43 Billion (USD 8.86 Billion) contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoons on September 11th, 2007. The deal is according to the plans outlined in the 2005 agreement between the two governments, part of a new defence cooperation programme known as Project Salam, or al-Salam, meaning “peace”.

The initial contract will be followed by a further order for armaments and weapons systems, as well as contracts regarding maintenance, training and support for the aircraft. The total value is estimated to be £20 billion over the lifetime of the aircraft.

The first 24 Typhoons are planned to be build at BAE’s factory at Warton, Lancashire, and the remaining jets are likely to be assembled in Saudi Arabia. BAE already employs 4,600 people in the kingdom, but negotiations on how much more the company will invest to build and support the Typhoons are yet to be finalised.

Al-Salam follows the al-Yamamah contract for Tornados, which has been worth more than £43 billion to BAE since it was signed in 1984.