Pentagon to sell bunker busters, cruise missiles to Gulf monarchies

The Pentagon plans to sell $10.8 billion worth of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The hardware includes bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles.

The planned deal includes shipping 1,000 GBU-39/B bombs to Saudi Arabia and 5,000 to the UAE, AFP reports. They have air-deployed wings, which allow them to strike targets as far away as 110km. Their warheads can penetrate up to a meter of reinforced concrete.

The planned sale also includes 650 sophisticated Standoff Land Attack Extended Range (SLAM-ER) and 973 Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOW) cruise missiles. The planned deal will be the first time the US delivers the sophisticated gliding bombs and missiles to the region.

Lockheed Martin wins $4 billion Pentagon missile defense deal

The Pentagon said on Friday it had finalized a contract worth nearly $4 billion with Lockheed Martin Corp. to supply additional missile defense equipment to the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

The deal involves Lockheed's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system that is designed to intercept ballistic missiles in midair, according to the the Pentagon's daily digest of major weapons contracts.

The contract reflects growing confidence and demand for the missile defense system, said Riki Ellison, founder of the non-profit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

The Gulf Union: defense first

 

In 2011, when Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced the intention to create the Gulf Union, one facet of the initiative stood out immediately—that of defense. The idea of the Gulf Union is to unify many aspects of the GCC under a new mantle, across a number of fields from economics to social issues to defense. We must not forget that defense is the one aspect of the GCC states that is unbreakable and a necessary component in a changing and evolving regional security environment. (Read more)