Pentagon approves new arms deal for Saudi Arabia
SANAA, Dec. 02 (YPA) – The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Monday evening that the State Department had approved two arms deals with Saudi Arabia, including the sale of support equipment for military helicopters and training and maintenance services, with a total estimated value of approximately $1 billion.
This comes as a continuation of the escalating military cooperation between Washington and Riyadh in recent times.
In two separate statements, the Pentagon explained that the two deals include supplying the Royal Saudi Land Forces Air Force’s fleet of aircraft with spare parts and technical and logistical support equipment, along with advanced air training for Saudi pilots and technicians.
The statement indicated that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency had forwarded the two necessary notifications to Congress, as part of standard procedures for foreign military sales transactions.
The first deal includes equipment related to the Cooperative Logistics Support Arrangements (CLSSA) program, under the second Foreign Military Sales request, with an estimated value of $500 million, a package intended to enhance technical readiness and provide a connected supply chain for the Saudi helicopter fleet.
The second deal is related to advanced training services to be conducted under a Blanket Order Training for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Corps. This includes initial and advanced flight training, operation of technical systems, and aircraft maintenance, under the supervision of the U.S. Army Training Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
The training is expected to cover a number of advanced models, most notably the AH-64 Apache helicopter, the UH-60L/M Lakota helicopter, the UH-72A Chinook helicopter, and the Black Hawk helicopter, at a similar estimated value of $500 million.
The announcement of these two deals comes at a time of expanding security cooperation between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and amid Washington’s efforts to strengthen its partnerships in the region.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh, describing Saudi Arabia as a “significant strategic ally” and confirming that the deal would go through, indicating his push to expand the Saudi arsenal with the latest American combat systems.