USA approves potential $11.25Bln combatant ships sale to Saudi Arabia

The approval allows Saudi Arabia and the USA government to negotiate a formal contract for the ships, but that process is not expected to be completed before the end of the year, according to a second source who is familiar with the matter.

The ships will replace older US-built combat ships. Saudi Arabia and other nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council sought such reassurances before acquiescing to the U.S.-led deal with Iran on its nuclear program. The ships are being sold under the Foreign Military Sales program, according to an unidentified official, Bloomberg reported. “Russia’s military intervention in Syria alongside Iran to back President Bashar al-Assad has further raised sectarian tensions in the region”.

However, the US military is prohibited from selling cutting-edge weapons such as F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf nations due to legislation that requires the U.S.to ensure Israel’s military remains superior to its Mideast neighbors, notes Bloomberg. “The proposed sale will provide Saudi Arabia with an increased ability to meet current and future maritime threats from enemy weapon systems”, DSCA told Congress. “The Multi-Mission Surface Combatant Ships will provide protection-in-depth for critical industrial infrastructure and for the sea lines of communication”. Lawmakers now have 30 days to decide if they want to block the deal.

Saudi Arabia is looking to modernize its naval forces in the Persian Gulf, which now operate four US-built corvettes acquired in the early 1980s, and three French-built frigates purchased between 2002 and 2004. The “world’s largest” arms trafficker and peace prize victor secured the biggest arms sale in U.S. history in 2010, stocking the Saudi dictator with $60 billion in lethal weaponry and equipment, and later hundreds of millions of dollars in banned cluster bombs, which the dictator has since used against Yemenis. The State Department approved a sale that could include 532 tactical RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, 188 RIM 116C Block II Rolling Airframe Missiles, and 48 RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles. USA lawmakers were notified in May about the MH-60R deal.