Pentagon Finalizes New $10 Billion Mideast Arms Deal

The goal of the Obama administration has been to sell weapons both to key Arab allies and to Israel, while maintaining America’s long-standing policy of maintaining Israel’s military superiority within the region.

President Obama reiterated this policy directly to top Israeli officials in his recent trip to Israel, pledging that the U.S. remains committed to providing the country with “security assistance” and “advanced military technology.” More recently, defense officials have assured Israel that U.S. weapons sales to Arab countries (Israel’s enemies) will be heavily monitored by U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in the region. In the past, Israel has expressed concern with massive U.S. weapons sales to neighboring Arab nations. However, Defense officials stated that the recent arms negotiations were less strained as they occurred with all three countries simultaneously.

After the sale is complete and the weapons are delivered, U.S. military forces will stage joint-training sessions with each of the countries.

As the leader in the global arms trade, the Pentagon controls approximately 78% of worldwide weapons sales.

According to an August 2012 report from the New York Times:

“Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion last year, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market, valued at $85.3 billion in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals. A worldwide economic decline had suppressed arms sales over recent years. But increasing tensions with Iran drove a set of Persian Gulf nations — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman — to purchase American weapons at record levels.”

And while the global arms trade is certainly a lucrative business for America, this $10 billion deal is relatively small compared to a 2010 arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $60 billion. The sale, which remains the largest U.S. arms deal in the region, included 84 Boeing F-15 fighter jets and more than 100 attack helicopters. The construction of the first batch of F-15s were just recently completed in St. Louis and are currently being flight tested at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Sources: Defense.gov; NYTimes.com

Comments are closed.