Kuwait Could Buy Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet under U.S. FMS

The Boeing Company is currently going through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process for the sale of Super Hornet aircraft to Kuwait and is hoping to finalize the deal soon.

The announcement was made during a press briefing in Florida on June 10, where Boeing briefed on taking steps to keep its F-18 production line open for future US Navy requirements and international sales based on positive signs from multiple sources.

Speaking at Boeing’s Global Sustainment and Support (GS&S) site at Cecil Field in northern Florida, Dan Gillian, Vice President of the F/A-18 and EA-18G programmes, said: “On the international front, a deal with Kuwait is currently going through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process with the US government and should be finalised in the not-too-distant future.”

The Kuwait deal worth $3 billion is for 28 fighters, with an option for 12 more, a deal which was expected last year.

Boeing has been pressing the Obama administration since last year to approve the Kuwait order and a separate Qatari order for F-15 fighter jets that has also been held up due to tedious arms sales process.

Gillian further said that Finland has also issued a request for proposals (RfP) for the Hornet purchase that Boeing is preparing its response to, as has Belgium.

“Spain, which also now flies the Hornet, is in the early stages of a fighter procurement project for which Boeing will bid the Super Hornet, while India and Canada are being offered the platform to fulfil their respective requirements also,” Gillian noted.