Saudi Arabia Is Cleared to Buy 48 Lockheed F-35 Lightning II Stealth Fighters for an Estimated $24.3 Billion, and a Defense Intelligence Agency Memo Warns China Could Get a Look Inside the Program

Saudi Arabia Is Cleared to Buy 48 Lockheed F-35 Lightning II Stealth Fighters for an Estimated $24.3 Billion, and a Defense Intelligence Agency Memo Warns China Could Get a Look Inside the Program

Washington has cleared the way for Saudi Arabia to buy 48 F-35s, engines, spares, and support for an estimated $24.3 billion, a sale the State Department’s notice to Congress calls “possible” and says “will not alter the military balance in the region.” A Defense Intelligence Agency memo reported by the New York Times warns that Huawei and ZTE equipment in Saudi telecommunications and Chinese access to Saudi bases could expose the program’s secr…