U.S. Clears $24.3 Billion F-35 Sale to Saudi Arabia, Testing Israel's Military Edge

The State Department has approved a possible $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35A stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, a deal that would make the kingdom the first Arab nation to operate the world's most advanced fighter and reopen a decades-old argument in Washington over how far the United States can arm its Gulf partners without eroding Israel's military advantage.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency's notice published by the State Department on Thursday says Riyadh has requested 48 F-35 Lightning II aircraft along with 49 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines, cryptographic equipment, electronic warfare systems and training and logistics support. The sale, if finalized, would begin arming the Royal Saudi Air Force with a fifth-generation fighter for the first time and would make Saudi Arabia only the second country in the Middle East, after Israel, to fly the jet.

The numbers

The notification puts the total potential value at $24.3 billion, covering 48 aircraft plus one spare engine beyond the 48 installed. The principal contractors are Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines of East Hartford, Connecticut. The per-aircraft cost is notably higher than recent comparable deals — Greece's 2024 order for 42 F-35s was valued at roughly $8.6 billion — a gap that reflects the extensive infrastructure, training and support package bundled into the Saudi request rather than the aircraft alone. Congress now has 30 calendar days from the formal notification to review the sale and, if it chooses, introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to try to block it.

How we got here

The approval caps nearly a year of diplomacy. The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Defense Agreement in November 2025, when Washington also designated the kingdom a major non-NATO ally, during a visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. President Trump publicly confirmed in March that the administration intended to sell Saudi Arabia 48 F-35s, and Thursday's State Department determination formalizes that pledge as an official Foreign Military Sale case. The State Department's notice argues the sale "will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region," and asserts that it "will not alter the military balance in the region."

That second assurance points to the central legal obstacle the deal must clear. Under a requirement written into arms-export law, congressional research on Israel's qualitative military edge explains that any sale of advanced weapons to a Middle Eastern country other than Israel must be certified as not eroding Israel's ability to counter regional threats using superior technology. Israel has for years lobbied Washington to keep the F-35 out of the hands of its neighbors, having previously worked to slow or block proposed sales to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Who is affected, and who is objecting

Three House Democrats — Reps. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Donald Norcross of New Jersey — had already raised objections before Thursday's formal notice. In a letter to the Pentagon and State Department, the lawmakers warned that "if this deal is completed, Riyadh will gain full access to some of the United States' most prized, cutting-edge military technology" at a time when Saudi Arabia is deepening security and digital-infrastructure ties with China, including use of Huawei and China Telecom services. They cited the administration's earlier decision to expel Turkey from the F-35 program after Ankara bought Russia's S-400 air-defense system as precedent for taking such technology-transfer risks seriously.

In Israel, officials have sought to project calm even as the Israeli Air Force has privately warned that its regional air superiority could erode. Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told The Jerusalem Post that "Israel's QME is a key factor in this regional integration, and should be reflected in any potential F-35 sale to the kingdom," and said Washington would need firm commitments from Riyadh to sever problematic defense ties with Beijing.

"The United States and Israel have a long-standing understanding, which is that Israel maintains the qualitative edge when it comes to its defense."

That assurance, from Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian, echoes what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israelis directly: that Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally committed to preserving Israel's advantage "in all areas, including Israel's advantage regarding the supply of F-35 aircraft." Notably absent from the final package, according to Israeli officials who had pushed for it, was any requirement that the sale be conditioned on Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel — a step Riyadh has said it will not take without progress toward Palestinian statehood.

Lockheed Martin, for its part, welcomed the notification. A company statement told Breaking Defense that "the government-to-government agreement to provide F-35 aircraft exemplifies our shared commitment to enduring security, stability, and long-term cooperation," adding that the company "looks forward to continued collaboration as the U.S. Congressional review process advances."

What happens next

The 30-day congressional review window gives lawmakers opposed to the sale a narrow avenue to act, though a resolution of disapproval would need to pass both chambers and survive a presidential veto to actually stop the deal — a high bar that such resolutions have rarely cleared in the past. Middle East Monitor reported that even if Congress does not object, the sale would still require a formal contract negotiation between Washington and Riyadh, a process that typically takes months and could see the final configuration or timeline shift. Delivery of the jets, if the sale proceeds on the timeline of comparable programs, would likely take years, meaning Saudi Arabia's air force is unlikely to field the aircraft before the end of the decade. For now, the notification marks a symbolic turning point: the first time Washington has approved F-35 sales to an Arab government, and a test of whether the qualitative military edge arrangement that has underpinned Middle East arms sales for decades can stretch to accommodate it.