Saudi air academy celebrations

The Riyadh-based King Faisal Air Academy (KFAA) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 25 January. Deputy Crown Prince and defence minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) on 22 January thanked his father King Salman for lending his patronage to the KFAA celebrations, which coincided with the graduation of the 91st batch of students and the commissioning of the first Boeing F-15SA fighter jets – a variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle adapted for the Royal Saudi Air Force. Riyadh will receive 152 of the aircraft in total, 84 new-build and 68 remanufactured (GSN 989/9).