Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 jet crashes in the GulfDecember 3, 2012 - 14:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 jet crashed in the Gulf during a routine training exercise late on Sunday and the pilot has not been found, the defense ministry said on Monday, Dec 3, according to Reuters. Saudi Arabia maintains a powerful air force supplied primarily by equipment made in the United States and Britain. Last year Washington announced a $29.4 billion deal to sell the new F-15, made by Boeing, to the Saudi air force. Industry sources have said the Saudis will buy 84 of the jets. The plane that crashed was based at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in the kingdom's Eastern Province and piloted by Lieutenant Fahd bin Falih al-Masarir, a defense ministry statement said. The ministry said the jet went down in Saudi waters and that authorities were investigating the cause of the crash. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and main Arab ally of the United States, also has Tornadoes and Typhoons in its air force. The predominantly Sunni-Muslim kingdom is locked in a tussle for regional influence with rival Shi'ite power Iran and is concerned about the destabilizing effect of last year's Arab uprisings. Its air force was last used in combat during the brief 2009-2010 conflict with Yemeni Houthi rebels. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |