Trump to sell ‘nerfed’ F-35s to Saudi Arabia? Reports claim fighters sold to Saudis will lack advanced features due to…

Saudi Arabia F35 deal: US President Doland Trump’s decision to sell F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia has irked Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East. However, the Trump administration might be doing a balancing act as report claim that the F-35s being sold to the Kingdom will lack several advanced features, enabling Israel to maintain its qualitative edge in the region.

Is Trump selling nerfed F-35s to Saudi Arabia?

According to a Reuters report, the F-35s which will be sold to Saudi Arabia, will be ‘less advanced’ than the ones operated by Israel, and will reportedly lack certain advanced features, such as cutting-edge weapons systems and electronic warfare capabilities.

“The White House is trying to find a middle ground that will allow the F-35 deal to be implemented while preserving Israel’s qualitative advantage,” Israeli media quoted a senior US official as saying.

The official said the Trump administration will hold additional talks with Israel on the US-Saudi Arabia F-35 deal to ensure it is “balanced”, adding that Washington will not let slip the IDF’s qualitative advantage in the Middle East. “The Trump administration is committed to the law that states that the United States will maintain the IDF’s qualitative advantage in the Middle East. We will not violate that,” he said.

What features will be ‘missing’ in Saudi F-35s?

According to various reports, the US-made F-35 stealth fighters being sold to Saudi Arabia will lack certain superior features, including the ability to integrate third-party weapons systems, radar jamming capabilities and upgrades that do not require US approval.

Saudi Arabia is also unlikely to receive the new AIM-260 Advanced Tactical Missile, a long-range, beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile used by the US Air Force and Navy. In contrast, the Israel is expected to receive the new cutting-edge missile from the US, which can be deployed on the internal weapons bays of the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets.

Notably, while the US use the most advanced version of the F-35, those sold to other are slightly less capable fighters, with the sole exception being the F-35 Adir– a custom-built version of the stealth fighter used by the Israeli Air Force.