US fighter jet sales bogged down in ‘foreign policy debate’

Delays in US government approval for major fighter jet sales to three Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are due to foreign policy debates in Washington, according to comments by a senior Pentagon official and politicians across the partisan divide. Deals to sell 36 Boeing F-15 fighter jets to Qatar for $4bn and 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to Kuwait for $3bn, along with a sale of as many as 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons to Bahrain, have been stalled for well over a year (or more than two years, depending on which version one accepts), causing frustration among suppliers and customers.