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But now seriously: Those who expected Donald Trump to fly into Riyadh and insult his Saudi hosts with the kinds of broadsides he delivered on the campaign trail against Islam and Muslims needn’t have worried. He didn’t do anything embarrassing. But he did commit the United States to a deeper alliance with the very leaders who are part of the problem. –> Blake Hounshell, “Donald of Arabia“, Politico, 21.05.2017.
What’s all in the $110 billion Military Arms Deal — probably the largest single arms deal in American history — which the US sealed with Saudi Arabia?
- 4 Littoral Combat Ships made by Lockheed Martin for $6 billion. It includes a better-armed version of the ships, support equipment, munitions like the Raytheon Co.’s Evolved Sea Sparrow air defense missiles and electronic-warfare systems (so called “Multi-Mission Surface Combatant Ships”).
- 60 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from Lockheed for about $5 billion.
- 48 CH-47 Chinook helicopters and related equipment built by Boeing for $3,5 billion.
- 3,000 tail kits to convert unguided munitions into GPS-guided bombs sold by Boeing.
- 115 M1A2 Abrams tanks made by General Dynamics as well as munitions, and heavy equipment recovery systems.
- Some Pac-3 Patriot hit-to-kill missiles by Lockheed and probably Lockheed’s Thaad anti-missile system, which intercepts incoming missiles at higher altitudes than the Patriot.
- A $18 billion program to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s military command-and-control structure.
Source: Anthony Capaccio and Margaret Talev, “Saudis to Make $6 Billion Deal for Lockheed’s Littoral Ships“, Bloomberg, 19.05.2017.
