US Department of State approves possible sale of weapons, ammunition to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

The Pentagon said the State Department has approved the potential sale of 3,000 precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia in a deal worth up to $ 290 billion.

According to the Pentagon, the package includes 3,000 GBU-39 Small Diameter (SDB I) ammunition, containers, support equipment, spare parts and technical support.

The sale comes in the last days of US President Donald Trump's term, although President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the largest buyer of American weapons in the Middle East, in an attempt to pressure Riyadh to end its war in Yemen.

In a related context, the Pentagon said in a separate statement that the State Department had also approved the possibility of selling Apache helicopters and spare parts for the Patriot missile system to Kuwait in two separate deals, the value of which could reach 4.2 billion dollars.

The Pentagon stated, "The government of Kuwait had requested the purchase of eight Apache AH-64E aircraft, and the upgrade of 16 Apache AH-64D aircraft to the Apache AH-64E version.

He added in a statement that the value of the helicopter deal could reach four billion dollars, while the value of spare parts for the Patriot missile system and training for the upgraded version would reach 200 million dollars.

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the deals on Tuesday.

Despite the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the notification does not indicate that the two contracts have been signed or that negotiations have ended, according to Reuters.

J.O