US State Department approves missile sales to UAE and Saudi Arabia

Middle East, News, US August 3, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The U.S. State Department has approved two possible arms deals for missile defense systems worth $5.3 billion for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A potential arms deal between the U.S. and the two Gulf countries was initially announced by Pentagon only two days after U.S. President Joe Biden concluded his trip to the region. After being approved by the State Department, the notification would go through the U.S. Congress for further approval.

Under the deal, Saudi Arabia would receive 300 Raytheon Technologies-made Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical Ballistic Missiles (GEM-T) MIM-104E Patriot missiles worth $3 billion. The deal also includes control stations, fire control systems, and other equipment as well as technical support.

According to the statement released by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the missile system would be “used to defend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s borders against persistent Houthi cross-border unmanned aerial system and ballistic missile attacks on civilian sites and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. These attacks threaten the well-being of Saudi, International, and U.S. citizens (approximately 70,000) residing in the Kingdom.” The statement further said that “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have no difficulty absorbing these missiles into its armed forces.”

Saudi Arabia has always been one of the top buyers of U.S.-made arms and weapons. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the top importer of U.S.-made weapons between 2017 and 2021, accounting for 23% of all U.S. arms sales.

Soon after taking the office, the Biden administration tightened the policy on selling offensive weapons to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. During his campaign for president in 2019 and after taking the office, Biden took a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia citing the kingdom’s campaign against the Houthis in Yemen and Riyadh’s human rights violations particularly the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

However, in the wake of soaring gas prices in the U.S. and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden Administration is rolling back its tough stance against Saudi Arabia in order to urge the kingdom to increase its oil production and cater to the needs of Western markets.

*^{A rendering shows Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system launcher with eight canisters. (Image Credit: Lockheed Martin)}*

In a separate but similar deal, the State Department approved the sale of 96 units of Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptor systems worth $2.25 billion to the UAE.

Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s statement said that “the proposed sale will improve the UAE’s ability to meet current and future ballistic missile threats in the region, and reduce dependence on U.S. forces.”