Kuwait to sign multibillion-euro fighter jet deal with Italy

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait and Italy will finalize a multibillion-euro deal next week for the Gulf state to purchase Eurofighter jets, Kuwait’s defense minister has said.
Sheikh Khaled Jarrah Al-Sabah did not specify the number of planes involved in the deal but the Eurofighter consortium said in September that Kuwait had agreed to buy 28 fighter jets.
“Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti will visit Kuwait next week to sign the Eurofighter warplanes deal,” Al-Sabah was quoted as saying by the official KUNA news agency.
Media reports said the value of the deal was between 7-8 billion euros ($8-9 billion).
The minister said he met with his Italian counterpart earlier Thursday on the sidelines of an anti-Daesh group coalition meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The Kuwait deal follows Oman’s order of 12 Eurofighter Typhoons in December 2012.
Kuwait is looking to upgrade its firepower against the backdrop of increased security concerns in the region linked to the rise of Daesh.
Its Parliament last month unanimously approved a request by the government for $10 billion in additional funds for military spending over the next 10 years.