Cost of acquisition". After meeting with the Pentagon in September 2015, the Saudis were expecting approval to purchase the Predator-D.
The RF-88 is intended to conduct air superiority operations over remote, uninhabited, and undeveloped territory, and it is armed with a radar-guided bombsight and an auxiliary 40-mm cannon. It is also fitted with a surface-to-air missile (SAM) to counter guided missiles in other aircraft as well as air-to ground missiles, although its reliability in targeting air-tankers is disputed. The basic airframe is the F/A-18C E/F "Fighting Falcon" and the secondary modifications are the canopy from the F-16 and the other major component of its conventional wing layout, the Manned Missile System with a high-explosive warhead.
Heavy FinFET processing allows additional weapons to be added, including a direct hit with the pistol-style nose, a forward-firing, long-range S-300 missile, or a heavy MANPADS missile.
The Saudi Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle variant is almost identical to the FX-1 Joint Striker helicopter but the primary difference is in its landing gear and a larger engine. Instead of the main landing equipment, the pilot relies on a number of small, highly efficient fixed aircraft, such as hybrid helicocopters and parachutes. With a conventional stealth payload, and helicos and paracheters aboard the F16, the F15 is an advanced fighter hybride that can perform aerial covert missions in the worst of environments. It can carry a variety of weapons, including the Paveway II HARM SAAM Missile, SA-15 MIM-104 Bullpup Missile and BAE Systems' Typhoon BGM-71 TOW Missiles; a different radio frequency shield to protect communications, a digital-linked radar (DLR) and a flame-signal suppresse.