Saudi Arabia-USA Military relationship

Can the Saudis afford it?
I heard that they had to take loans because of increasing expenditures and decreasing revenues.

US to Sell Saudi Arabia $500Mln in Munitions to Continue Yemen Campaign

The United States has approved a $500 million sale of munitions for Saudi Arabia to continue its ongoing military campaign in Yemen.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has approved a $500 million sale of munitions for Saudi Arabia to replenish the depleted supplies from its ongoing military campaign in Yemen, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.

“The proposed sale will resupply the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) with the munitions it needs to continue to protect Saudi Arabia’s southern border from ongoing attacks by hostile Houthi militia and Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula forces,” DSCA said on Wednesday.

The sale includes light firearm ammunition, tracers, artillery shells and mines.

The sale was approved as Saudi Arabia has come under criticism for human rights abuses and violations of the international laws of war by targeting and killing civilians during the four-month-old air and military campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab states, supported by US intelligence and refuelling, began an air campaign against Houthi rebels and allied forces who took power from the ousted former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The multi-front war pits Houthi rebels and loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against Hadi’s Sunni forces, tribes and south Yemen secessionists based in Aden.

Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula and ISIL have also taken advantage of the chaos to strengthen their hold in Yemen.

The United Nations has urged all sides of the conflict to cease hostilities amid what the world body has described is an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that has left 80 percent of the population in need of assistance.

The conflict has claimed the lives of at least 1,900 civilians and has injured more than 4,000, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150730/1025195191.html#ixzz3hKd9zsUW

Saudi Navy Set to Order American Littoral Combat Ships

Saudi Arabia has selected a variant of a warship Lockheed Martin is building for the US Navy as the frigate for the kingdom's Eastern Fleet modernization program, a source told Defense News.

The frigates sale will be the cornerstone of the modernization of the Royal Saudi Navy's eastern fleet and its aging US warships in the Arabian Gulf.

A letter of request from the Saudi Navy that detailed requirements for the program was signed in early August, the source said, and the Saudis have asked the US Navy and Lockheed to complete a letter of agreement by November, Defense News reported.

The deal calls for four frigates capable of hosting Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters.

Saudi and US officials also are finalizing a $1.9 billion deal to buy 10 MH-60R helicopters, which can be used for anti-submarine warfare and other missions. Lockheed is in the process acquiring Sikorsky.

The ships are also expected to be fitted with a vertical launch system that can accommodate surface-to-air missiles.

The entire Eastern Fleet expansion program is expected to cost between $16 billion and $20 billion and also includes patrol boats, three maritime patrol aircraft, and 30 to 50 unmanned aerial vehicles, Defense News Reported.

The four large frigates are expected to take up about 20-25% of the total cost. Saudi Arabia earlier this year budgeted $3.5 billion for the program, money that needs to be spent in calendar 2015.

The deal, if finalized, would mark the first international sale of a US littoral combat ship.

The Saudi Navy's expansion program has been in the works for years, but US sources say Saudi Arabia's concerns about Iran have accelerated the effort.

In July, world powers and Iran reached a deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. Regional neighbors worry about the threat posed by a financially strong Iran.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150916/1027047609.html#ixzz3lsj6AQdj

Special Delivery: Saudi Arabia to Receive More Black Hawks From Ally US

The US is all set for a new special delivery for Riyadh. The Saudis are awaiting a fresh shipment of Black Hawk helicopters, packed with heavy weapons. The move flies in the face of international calls on Western powers to halt weapons deliveries to the Saudis, whose airstrikes continue to pound Yemen further into humanitarian crisis.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced approval of the weapons deal, worth $495 million, that includes nine Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters, equipped with AN/AAR-57 missile warning systems and M134 7.62mm six-barrel miniguns. The helicopters will be operated by the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command.

Twenty M240H machine guns and additional equipment is listed in the contract as well.

The sale requires up to sixty US government and contractor personnel to travel to Saudi Arabia for up to sixty months for the equipment follow-up. Riyadh received 72 Black Hawks in 2010, alongside dozens of Apaches and other helicopters, F-15SA strike fighters and various other military equipment.

The US has been selling Black Hawks extensively over the last two years to countries including Jordan, Tunisia, Austria, Slovakia, Mexico and Brazil.

“The proposed sale will make a positive contribution to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of an important regional partner that has been, and continues to be, a significant US partner for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East,” the announcement on the DSCA website published Wednesday states.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International issued a report calling on Washington and London to halt arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia in light of the hundreds of civilians killed and injured in an ongoing air campaign launched by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels in March.

Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government and the Houthis, the country’s main opposition force that forced the country’s government to resign in January.

According to the United Nations, hundreds of civilians have been killed in Yemen in the course of the conflict and around 80 percent of the country’s population is currently in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151016/1028595327/blackhawks-deal-saudis.html#ixzz3oha60amo

US Approves Potential $11.25Bln Combatant Ships Sale to Saudi Arabia

The sale will support strategic interests of the United States and improve stability and maritime security in the Middle East, according to a press release of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Department of State has approved a potential $11.25 billion sale of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant Ships (MMSC) and associated equipment to Saudi Arabia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release on Tuesday.

"The proposed sale will provide Saudi Arabia with an increased ability to meet current and future maritime threats from enemy weapon systems," the press release stated. "The total estimated cost [of the sale] is $11.25 billion."

US defense and security company Lockheed Martin has been building the MMSC ships under the US Navy’s littoral shipbuilding program. The ships are capable of conducting anti-air, mine countermeasures, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and electronic warfare tasks.

"Saudi Arabia will use the enhanced capability to keep pace with the rapid advances in technology and to remain a viable US coalition partner in the region," the release noted.

Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s leading arms importer, spending approximately $6.4 billion on weapons purchases in 2014, according to a study by Janes IHS.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151020/1028834085/us-saudi-arabia-combatant-ships-sale.html#ixzz3p8HFk5vO

U.S. to help the Saudi navy upgrade. Saudi Arabia appears poised to purchase “as many as four Littoral Combat Ships for $11.25 billion. “The ships are part of a planned modernization, replacing older U.S.-built vessels in the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet. The sale also begins to deliver on President Barack Obama’s pledge to improve the military capabilities of the U.S.’s Arab allies.”



US making quick money by selling unreliable lcs to saudis .

US has cleared a sale of more than 10,000 advanced air-to-ground munitions for Saudi Arabia


A week after key allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) raised concerns over dwindling supplies of weapons.

US earning some quick hot money and meanwhile Saudis are busy in digging their own graves

the potential sale are the following:

1,000 GBU-10 Paveway II laser guided bombs (LGBs).
2,300 BLU-117/MK-84 2,000 pound general-purpose bombs.
4,020 GBU-12 Paveway II LGBs.
8,020 BLU-111/MK-82 500 pound general-purpose bombs.
1,100 GBU-24 Paveway III LGBs.
1,500 BLU-109 2,000 pound penetrator warheads.
400 GBU-31(V1) KMU-556 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits.
1,000 GBU-31(V3) KMU-557 JDAM tail kits.
3,000 GBU-38 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits.
2,000 GBU-48 Enhanced Paveway II, dual-mode global positioning system (GPS)/LGB with the MXU-667 Airfoil and the MAU-169L/B computer control group (CCG) dual mode.
2,000 BLU-110/MK-83 1,000 pound general-purpose bombs.
500 GBU-54 KMU-572 laser JDAM tail kits, dual-mode GPS/LGB with the MXU-667 Airfoil and the MAU-169L/B CCG dual mode.
300 GBU-56 KMU 556 laser JDAM tail kits, dual-mode GPS/LGB with the MXU-667 Airfoil and the MAU-169L/B CCG dual mode.
10,200 FMU-152 fuzes

"Original" document.

Saudis Order $1.1Bln More Patriot PAC-3 Interceptors From Lockheed Martin

The US Department of Defense announced that defense Contractor Lockheed Martin has won more than one billion dollar US Army modification contract to build Patriot anti-ballistic missile interceptors for South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin has won more than one billion dollar US Army modification contract to build Patriot anti-ballistic missile interceptors for South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the US Department of Defense announced.

"Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $1,094,983,588 modification foreign military sales (Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) contract… for Patriot Advanced Capability production (PAC-3)," the announcement on Monday stated.

The new contract follows an enormous $5.4 billion deal that Saudi Arabia signed to buy the upgraded PAC-3 interceptor missile to replace its aging force of earlier-model Patriot missiles that was announced in July 2015.

US Arab allies have sought to bolster their ballistic missile capabilities and anti-ballistic missile defense amid concerns over the Iran nuclear agreement and Tehran’s activities in the region.

In May 2015, the United States and Gulf Arab countries agreed to expand defense cooperation. Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest importer of arms in 2014, primarily purchasing weapons from the United States.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151215/1031749405/saudis-order-more-patriots.html#ixzz3uO4E8Aj0

Saudi Arabia last week rejected an offer from the US Navy to build four frigates – the latest move in an ongoing negotiation over price and schedule.

The ships, known as the Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC), are the largest part of Saudi Arabia’s $16 billion plan to replace and modernize the kingdom’s eastern fleet in the Persian Gulf.

The modernization plan includes the four frigates, along with six smaller corvette-sized ships, all operating Lockheed Martin Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters. The helicopters are to cost $1.9 billion. A number of smaller vessels and aircraft also are in the plan.

Negotiations have been underway between Washington and Riyadh over the MMSC package, which includes weapons, logistics, training and other services. The Saudis declined the latest offer last week, sources told Defense News.

Reportedly, the Saudis balked at the price tag for the MMSC package – thought to be between $3 and $4 billion – and were unhappy with the time it would take to complete detail design of the ships, carry out systems integration, build the vessels, deliver them and install infrastructure improvements in the kingdom.

The first ship would be delivered in about seven years, which the Saudis reportedly think is excessive, a source told Defense News.

Washington is expected to return to the bargaining table with counter offers.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160111/1032967905/sauid-arabia-rejects-pentagon-ships.html#ixzz3wyQXoExZ

Lockheed Martin delivers two KC-130J Super Hercules to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

http://defence-blog.com/news/lockheed-martin-delivers-two-kc-130j-super-hercules-to-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia.html

GCC Ballistic Missile Defense Is Also A Priority for the United States

Missile defense cooperation remains one of, if not the most, important aspects of the multilateral relationship between the United States and its allies in the Arabian Gulf. The U.S. defense industry has greatly benefitted from this multilateral relationship with the military expenditure of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states routinely among the highest in the world.

Due to changing political leadership, budgetary concerns and military education the GCC states are starting to assert themselves across the region. It is, however, the defense of the homeland that remains the principal concern for the GCC states and ensures a continuing relationship with the U.S. defense industry.

Since the first Gulf War, U.S. assets have been stationed across the GCC, protecting critical national infrastructure. With the growing Iranian missile threat, U.S. commercial and strategic interests have encouraged the GCC states to purchase and install the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the most advanced missile defense systems sold to date by the United States.

Iran continues to be the primary ballistic and cruise missile threat to the GCC. The average length of time for an Iranian weapon to reach the shores of the Arabian Peninsula is approximately eight minutes. The future of the Iranian missile arsenal and technology also is not only based on Suppression of Enemy Defenses, but also on Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle technology to include Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) penetration aides. These facts alone mean that GCC BMD must have a quick response capability that is enabled by a proficient command, control, communications and intelligence network.

The GCC states each have their own BMD solutions in the meantime. Bahrain currently employs the U.S. PAC-3 and enjoys multi-national protection predominantly from the U.S. 5th Fleet which is stationed in Manama. Kuwait also utilizes the PAC-3 as well as MIM-23 Hawk and the European Skyguard. Additionally, Kuwait enjoys considerable support from U.S. forces, predominantly from Army Central Command. Oman utilizes the U.K. Rapier, Skyguard and the Konigsberg/Raytheon designed National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System integrated by a command and control and sensor suite built by what was formerly BAE Insyte.

Qatar currently operates the PAC-3, has requested the THAAD system and is host of the Air Force Central Command. Saudi Arabia’s missile defense capabilities are organized around its “peace shield” that attempts to create a central network enabling a national cohesive missile defense network.

The predominant systems employed by the Saudi’s are the PAC-2 and PAC-3, Skyguard and the Hawk, with considerable support from the U.S. and other Western allies. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) operates the U.S. PAC-3 and THAAD as well as the French Crotale, U.K. Rapier and Russian made Pantsyr. The UAE is home to the French Indian Ocean Fleet, an Australian forward operating base for the Middle East and Central Asian theaters, as well as military representatives from an array of NATO partners.

Real issues concerning the development of a robust integrated BMD network across the GCC still remain. While some states have independently developed effective BMD solutions, there is a lack of collective policy and integration across the region, leaving some states in a vulnerable position against the kinetic threat that endangers the region.

The Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of State (DoS) have made a BMD shield for the GCC a primary policy goal. Although Foggy Bottom continues to make its pitch to the Gulf monarchies for a unified system, movement forward is in a “wait and see” position until the next administration takes office in Washington, DC.

It is notable that GCC states require substantial assistance across the operation lifecycle of high-end missile defense systems but within their own current inventory may simply require training and better access to intelligence to operate independently. This fact makes a unified GCC BMD harder to achieve. In addition, the GCC states are angry with the United States for not sharing highly sensitive data. Put simply, the GCC is caught in a bind: The six nations can neither move forward in a plug-and-play environment that unifies their respective BMD systems nor can they break their dependency on U.S. BMD systems.

One key subject involves technical and training support for the GCC states and their respective BMD systems. So far, the U.S. government and U.S.-based Original Equipment Manufacturers engage with their GCC partners independently. Units and contractors involve with forces in Saudi Arabia differently than in, say, the UAE. These relationships are constrained by contractual and foreign arms sales state-by-state over the years of individual BMD systems. Thus, a distortion of relationships is occurring where the GCC states are constrained because of their own separate BMD architectures and their own planning and acquisition cycles.

Lastly, a perennial issue affecting a unified GCC BMD are policy differences between the U.S. Department of Defense and DoS that have significantly affected U.S.-GCC relations. This “agitation” has threatened to affect military cooperation and defense sales to the region, with DoS’s vision of interaction with the GCC a hindrance to future cooperation. Any possibility of a future GCC regional missile defense shield looks unlikely, at least in the short term.

Clearly, America is a key ally to the GCC when it comes to countering the Iranian ballistic missile threat in the region. The U.S. will no doubt continue to provide missile defense assets and training in whatever structure the GCC sees best while Washington’s plan for a unified GCC BMD is still in the works. The next administration’s perception of foreign policy objectives with the GCC will no doubt direct the ongoing U.S.-GCC BMD relationship, but considering conservative elements (both in the U.S. and the GCC) suspicious of Iranian intentions, it is highly likely that the GCC will continue to enjoy a close relationship with the U.S. vis-a-vis BMD architecture that still needs work.

Saudi Arabia buys another 153 Abrams tanks, including 20 for loss compensation

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2061028.html

usa sell saudi buy thats it

US Set to Ship First AH-6i Choppers to Riyadh

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20160826/1044679967/riyadh-boeing-choppers-usa.html

Boeing Inks $3.2 Billion Agreement to Sell Apache Helicopters to Saudi Arabia

https://sputniknews.com/military/201703181051708405-boeimg-inks-sale-deal-saudi/

Saudi Arabia will reportedly buy four Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships from Lockheed Martin under a foreign military sale.

https://sputniknews.com/military/201705201053802447-saudi-buy-lockheed-ships/

Saudi Arabia buys US artillery radar AN/TPQ-53(V)

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2656919.html

The contract for 115 Black Hawk helicopters for Saudi Arabia

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2720709.html

Saudi Arabia acquires 155-mm self-propelled howitzer M109A6

According to the magazine "Jane's Defense Weekly" in the article by Jeremy Binnie, "Saudis planning to buy M109A6 howitzers with new turrets" with reference to the information posted on July 13, 2017 on the US Federal Business Opportunities website (FBO), Saudi Arabia acquires an unnamed amount American 155-mm / 39 self-propelled howitzer M109A6 Paladin.

The FBO website has posted a request for production and supply of the Anniston Army Depot (Alabama) towers for M109A6 self-propelled howitzers for the delivery of Saudi Arabia under the forthcoming contract for foreign government sales of foreign military sales (FMS). The new production towers will have to be installed on the chassis of the M109A6 automatic control system, which are released when the US Army upgrades to the M109A7 PIP variant (in the process of upgrading the M109A6 to the M109A7, the M109A6 towers are rearranged to a new chassis manufactured by BAE Systems).

The contractor will have to install and integrate the towers on the chassis M109A6, with a bulkhead of the chassis itself and replacement of the necessary parts.

The request states that the US government intends to negotiate only with BAE Systems Land & Armaments as a possible supplier and contractor, but other companies can also submit their applications [this request is thus a mere formality and the purchase will be made from a "single supplier" In Russian terminology. - bmpd].

At present, the army of Saudi Arabia from self-propelled artillery of 155 mm caliber is believed to have 110 American self-propelled howitzer M109A2, 48 M109A5, 78 French 155 GCT (probably most of the latter is in storage) and 54 Chinese PLZ45. It is possible that the purchase of Saudi Arabia by SAU M109A6 is designed to replace 155 GCT howitzers acquired in the late 1970s.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2736526.html

Notice on the possible sale of Saudi Arabia's missile defense system THAAD

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on October 6, 2017 sent a notice to the US Congress about the possible sale of Saudi Arabia through the inter-governmental military sales of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of seven batteries of the US missile defense system THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense). The sale is authorized by the US Department of State. The estimated cost of delivery is estimated at $ 15 billion.

According to the notification, 44 mobile THAAD launchers, THAAD 360 anti-missiles, THAAD command posts, seven AN / TPY-2 radars, and various other related assets (including 43 trucks) will be included in the proposed delivery. The cost of delivery also includes technical support, training of personnel, construction of infrastructure, payment for activities in Saudi Arabia of the required number of representatives of the American industry (111 people) and the US armed forces (18 people).

The general contractors for the supply will be the corporations Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Recall that, as reported, a preliminary agreement on the purchase of Saudi Arabia's seven batteries of the THAAD system (the cost of which was tentatively estimated at 13.5 billion dollars) was signed on May 20, 2017 in Riyadh during the official visit to Saudi Arabia by the President of the United States of America Donald Trump. The date of deliveries of THAAD systems to Saudi Arabia was called 2023-2026.

In the event of a firm intergovernmental agreement, Saudi Arabia will become the third foreign customer of THAAD after the UAE and Oman.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2882416.html