HMM: U.S. Nearing Contract With Boeing For Qatar F-15QAs.

Relations between the U.S. and Qatar were tested in June when Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for terrorist organizations. U.S. President Donald Trump praised Saudi Arabia’s actions in a tweet on June 6, writing: “They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”

Five months on, Qatar remains shunned by its Gulf neighbors, but the process of hammering out an F-15 deal continues.

At the Paris Air Show in June, Boeing Defense, Space & Security CEO Leanne Caret said production of the 36 aircraft for Qatar would begin in 2019 at the company’s fighter factory in St. Louis.

So why sell such dangerous jets to such a troublesome country? Jobs, perhaps among other things.

Without Qatar, F-15 production would probably end. If the deal does go through, the line would stay open through 2022 and potentially longer if Qatar orders another batch of 12.

And Boeing may still be trying to drum up sales of its even-more advanced F-15 Silent Eagle. That’s already an expensive fourth-generation jet, about on par with the fifth-generation F-35. But the Silent Eagle would be even more expensive still if Boeing had to start back up closed production lines to produce it.