Saudi in talks for project liberty-type spy planes

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc is in discussions with Saudi Arabia on a potential order for a fleet of spy planes similar to ones used by the US Air Force, chief executive officer Mike Strianese said.

“Saudi Arabia is interested in the Project Liberty-type system,” Strianese said on Thursday in an interview at the Farnborough Air Show, near London. The kingdom may consider “a handful” of planes for internal security, he said.

The Project Liberty system is based on Hawker Beechcraft Corp’s King Air 350 propeller planes equipped with electro- optical and heat-sensing cameras used by the U.S. Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan. L-3, a New York-based supplier of military electronics, received the first order for the aircraft in September 2008 and now has a contract for 37.

The US Defense Department is preparing to ask permission from Congress for an arms package for Saudi Arabia that includes military airplanes, navy vessels and missile defense systems, Navy Vice Admiral Jeffrey Wieringa, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, said in an interview in Farnborough on Wednesday.

The potential sale of the Project Liberty spy planes would be part of that package, Strianese said. He anticipated the Pentagon would notify Congress “before the end of September.” The Pentagon will coordinate the planes order through its Foreign Military Sales program, he said.

The size of the fleet that Saudi Arabia orders may vary depending on the types of applications, Strianese said.

“If you’re protecting borders you need more than one, if you are protecting national infrastructure you need more than one, whether you’re doing spot checking or using 24/7, that determines quantity,” Strianese said. The country’s needs may grow beyond the initial order, he said.

Project Liberty is named after the World War II program to rapidly produce “Liberty” cargo vessels replacing those torpedoed by German U-boats. The planes can fly as high as 35,000 feet and orbit for as long as five hours.

L-3 has said it will deliver all 37 planes on contract to the US Air Force by November and also foresees additional orders. In April, Strianese told analysts the company was ahead of its schedule and was the “fastest delivery by a defense contractor for a weapons system to the U.S. military since World War II.”

The company declined to provide an estimate of the program’s value. (Bloomberg)