A senior Robins Air Force Base official believes the massive $29.4 billion upgrade to the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15 fleet remains on track although the Saudi government has not yet signed the agreement.

The pending sale calls for delivery of 84 new F-15SA or “Saudi advanced” jets and the upgrade of 70 RSAF F-15S aircraft. The package also includes updates at five Saudi bases, new weaponry, training and sustainment through 2020.

Final agreement from the Saudi government was expected by mid summer, but that did not occur. Col. Robert Stambaugh, who heads the project for the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, attributes that to the sheer scope of the effort.

“Typically, the Saudi timeline (for signature) is about six months which would have been the end of September,” Stambaugh pointed out. “We expected them to potentially sign this one early. But this is the biggest foreign military sale in history times three. So you can understand why they would be hesitant -- $30 billion is a lot of money even for the Saudi Arabian government.”

Robins Air Force Base, the sustainment focal point for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15 fleet, will be a key player in the project when it becomes official. For almost three decades, Robins has partnered with the RSAF in supporting that nation’s F-15s. The new program would add about 100 people to the Robins payroll including some who will be positioned in Saudi Arabia.

Stambaugh said Boeing, the F-15 manufacturer, and a host of suppliers are cooperating to sustain the terms originally offered to the Saudi government in April.

“That means the letter of offer and acceptance or LOA we issued is still valid,” he said, “and the Saudi government has given us no indication that the deal is off.”

The Boeing F-15 production line, now in its fourth decade of operation, remains intact and ready to begin production on the Saudi jets.

“Boeing has not ramped down activity, so they are continuing at risk,” Stambaugh reported. “We have worked with Boeing and with suppliers to ensure the price we have in the LOA remains valid and we can still provide the aircraft and support that’s included at or below the LOA dollar figure. We wouldn’t be able to do that without talking to Boeing.”

Reports originally surfaced that Boeing would shut down its F-15 production line in 2012 if additional orders were not received by the end of 2011. The company has since backed off that timeline. According to media reports, Boeing will deliver the last of 21 F-15Ks to South Korea in March of next year. Singapore’s fleet of 24 F-15SGs also will be completed next year. The company is competing for a follow-on South Korean buy of 40 to 60 aircraft.

The former Warner Robins ALC vice commander does not believe the sale is being held up by politics.

“In fact,” Stambaugh pointed out, “there have been several U.S. Army helicopter cases approved by the Saudi government since early summer. They were smaller programs but in the billions of dollars. So if the Saudi government really had a problem with the U.S. they probably wouldn’t have signed those.”

In the meantime, the Robins program office has developed contingency plans to sustain the existing Saudi fleet for another year, including older F-15s scheduled for retirement under the new agreement.

“We are insuring our Saudi partners are covered whether or not they sign and execute this LOA,” the colonel stressed. “We’re committed to doing that.”