WASHINGTON – The US State Department said on May 1 that it was approving military sales totalling more than US$8.6 billion (S$10.95 billion) to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The announcements came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The announcements on May 1 by the State Department included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing US$4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing US$992.4 million.
They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing US$2.5 billion and to Israel of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems costing US$992.4 million.
The State Department approved a sale to the UAE of APKWS for US$147.6 million.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defence replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale. REUTERS
