JaFaJ has confirmed that the United States Government has agreed to sell F35 stealth fighters to the United Arab Emirates. Sources in Abu Dhabi and DC confirmed the administration has received several positive reports about the perspectives of selling F35 to the UAE. Those reports came from the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Israeli Mossad. All three agencies are reported to have agreed that selling the jets to UAE “would not pose a threat to Israel or Middle Eastern peace and stability”, and would “rather leverage the pressure on Iran by arming a trusted regional ally with the stealth fighter”.
Sources in Jerusalem have also confirmed to JaFaj that the Israeli government is very supportive of the proposed deal. This is in conflict with initial reports being circulated mainly by Arab media stating that Israel had recommended against the upcoming deal. According to one well-connected Arab intelligence source: “So far, it’s just a message of approval sent to the UAE that they will eventually get their jets, but this takes months to finalize if not a whole years and the UAE knows this”.
Nonetheless, Western military sources have confirmed to JaFaj that such deal take a long time to be finalized, noting the technicalities must be all finalized before the deal is put on the table, such as specifics of the jets, armament, ammunition supply and training of pilots. Hence, it could be another 18-24 months before the first F35 flies with a UAE decal.