Saudis buy 84 new F15s, upgrade 70 they already have, other stuff

[Silent Hunter]

The sense that some huge war is brewing is giving the spectator half of my brain is getting ready to start munching down the popcorn. My more rational side is thinkin' "uh oh".

Particularly the latter in my case, as I'm a lot closer to Iran than you are.

[Silent Hunter]

They're probably paranoid about Iran. I doubt they want to mix it up with Israel, and probably view it as a partner against Iran, albeit one they want no direct involvement with. Still, it's pretty clear that the Saudis hate the Iranians a lot more than they hate the Israelis.

Agreed, but it seems like an awful lot of planes to have to go up against Iran's band aid and duct taped fleet of 30 year old air frames.

If the Saudi's and Irani's fought a war I would still put my money on those duct taped 30 year old planes.

Explain why you would say that.

[Silent Hunter]

Better hardware are very good, but it demand a degree of competence to also use it well, the Saudi Army have at no point shown itself competent, while the Iranis have shown that they can deliver quite good results even with inferior hardware.

The Iran-Iraq war was a status quo ante draw... and the Iranians had superior weaponry.

[Silent Hunter]

Oh yeah, definitely no reason for Iran to want to defend itself with a nuclear deterrent. Look at its peaceful, friendly neighbors!

I can see it now. The neocons will say the Iranians are just being paranoid, yet be completely comfortable with Saudi Arabia getting their hands on whatever armaments they can.

Who would want to a) invade and b) have the capability to do so? And before you say the US, Iran is not Iraq.