UAE to buy 80 fighter jets from U.S.

ABU DHABI, May 22 (AFP) - Emirati Air Force Commander Khaled ibn Abdallah al-Mazrui said Friday that an order placed with the United States for 80 F-16 fighter planes would cost the United Arab Emirates six billion dollars.

"The amount of the transaction, six billion dollars, will be paid over the course of the contract and until the delivery of the last aircraft and corresponding equipment," General Mazrui told the WAM news agency.

Emirati officials and diplomats in Abu Dhabi said previously that the deal with Lockheed Martin of the United States was worth six to eight billion dollars.

"The Emirates will receive the first shipment of F-16s at the beginning of the year 2000 after Emirati pilots and technicians have been trained in the United States," Mazrui said.

The general did not say how many aircraft would be in the first consignment.

The deal, which was announced May 12 in Washington, also includes AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and HARM anti-radar missiles, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Lockheed Martin, beat out France's Dassault and a European consortium to win the Emirati contract.

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