RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is close to buying more combat aircraft from Britain, its defence minister said in remarks published yesterday, flagging a deal which one industry expert said may be worth 10 billion pounds (US$18 billion).

"God willing, we hope to conclude in the near future a deal for modern planes with Britain," Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz said after talks with visiting UK Defence Minister John Reid, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Sources close to the negotiations have said a deal is likely to involve Saudi Arabia buying at least 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets, with an option to raise that to 72.

One senior source close to the situation said an agreement might be signed later in the day after Reid meets Saudi King Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia has a long history of buying arms from Britain dating back to the 1960s and usually paying in oil.

In 1985 the two countries signed the first of two Al Yamamah (The Dove) arms for oil deals. The second was signed in 1988 and ranked as the biggest UK export order in history, with requirements for Tornado fighter jets, Hawk trainer jets and helicopters and support services that was valued at over 20 billion pounds (US$36 billion).

The prime contractor for Al Yamamah was BAE Systems and the British aerospace firm's shares rallied as much as 5 per cent yesterday on hopes it would benefit from a new deal. The multi-national Eurofighter consortium which makes Typhoon jets includes BAE, European aerospace group EADS and Italy's Finmeccanica.

Francis Tusa, editor of London-based newsletter Defence Analysis, said Typhoon jets had a unit cost price of about 65 million pounds (US$117 million) and that including weapons, support, training and other extras a deal for 48 jets could total 6 billion pounds (US$10.6 billion).

Including options, the deal could reach 10 billion pounds (US$18 billion), he added.

Source: China Daily