RIYADH, May 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. agreed on Tuesday to

sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion,

according to a White House fact sheet that called it "the

largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done.

The agreement, signed during U.S. President Donald Trump's

visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh, covers deals with more than a

dozen U.S. defense companies in areas including air and missile

defense, air force and space advancement, maritime security and

communications, the fact sheet said.

"The package signed today, the largest defense

cooperation deal in U.S. history, is a clear demonstration of

our commitment to strengthening our partnership," the fact sheet

said.

Reuters first

reported

last month that the arms package would be worth well over

$100 billion.

Saudi Arabia is the largest customer for U.S. arms.

Former President Joe Biden's administration tried

unsuccessfully to finalize a defense

pact

with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi

Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.

The White House fact sheet did not mention if Riyadh

would be permitted to purchase Lockheed's F-35 jets, the

military aircraft that the kingdom has reportedly been

interested in for years.

The two countries had discussed Riyadh's potential

purchase of Lockheed's F-35 jets, two sources briefed on

discussions told Reuters.

However, it was not clear if Washington would permit the

kingdom to move forward with a purchase that would give Saudi

Arabia an advanced weapon used by close U.S. ally Israel, one of

the sources said.

The second source said the qualitative military edge, or

U.S. guarantees that Israel receives more advanced American

weapons than Arab states, is an issue that "has come up."

The sources spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Israel has owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple

squadrons.

Governments in the Gulf have long sought the most advanced

fighter jet, built with stealth technology allowing it to evade

enemy detection. If the U.S. did approve the transfer, Saudi

Arabia would be only the second Middle East state after Israel

to operate F-35 fighters.