The State Department Cleared a $24.3 Billion Sale of 48 F-35s to Saudi Arabia, the First Arab Country Ever Approved for the Jet. U.S. Intelligence Analysts Warned China Could Get Its Hands on the Technology, and Israel Is Already Asking for Bunker-Busters in Return.

The Trump administration on Thursday notified Congress that it has approved a potential $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35A Lightning II fighters to Saudi Arabia, a deal that would make the kingdom the first Arab state and only the second country in the Middle East, after Israel, to fly the stealth jet. The package, built by Lockheed Martin, includes 49 Pratt & Whitney engines along with spare parts, training and support. Even if lawmakers let it proceed, the first aircraft would not be delivered for several years.

"This proposed 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," the State Department said in its notification. The department added that the sale would help Riyadh "deter current and future threats" and would "not alter the military balance in the region," language that speaks to the legal requirement that the United States preserve Israel's qualitative military edge over its neighbors.

The timing is not accidental. Saudi Arabia is absorbing near-daily drone and missile attacks from Yemen's Houthis, who have launched a ground offensive toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. An attack this week on the kingdom's East-West pipeline prompted Saudi Aramco to tell European and Indian refiners that they will receive no crude in October. The F-35 sale, which follows the $142 billion defense package announced during Trump's visit to Riyadh in May 2025 and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's White House visit last November, is the clearest signal yet that Washington intends to arm the kingdom for a long war.

Congress now has 30 days to review the deal or pass a resolution to block it, and objections surfaced within hours. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, said the United States should not proceed "when our own intelligence community is warning that it could put the crown jewels of American military technology within reach of the Chinese Communist Party." He added: "We must not sell our most advanced fighter jet anywhere the CCP may be able to get its hands on the technology inside it." The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence analysts have raised exactly that concern internally, citing Saudi Arabia's deepening ties with Beijing, including its use of Huawei equipment in national networks.

Israel's reaction was to open negotiations rather than object outright. Israeli officials told CBS News they will seek weapons Washington has never before approved for sale, including bunker-busting munitions, as compensation. The Israeli military had earlier submitted documents opposing a Saudi F-35 acquisition on the grounds that it would erode Israel's air superiority. Israel received its first F-35s in 2016 and became the first country to use the jet in combat in 2018.

Skepticism of Saudi arms deals in Congress dates to the 2018 killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Democrats blocked or delayed several packages during the Biden years. The difference now is that Republicans control both chambers, the kingdom is under fire, and the president has made the U.S.-Saudi relationship a centerpiece of his Middle East policy. Barring a bipartisan revolt in the next 30 days, the sale will stand.