US, Saudi Arabia ink historic $142 billion arms deal during Donald Trump's Riyadh visit
In a statement, the White House called it one of the largest arms deal in history.
The US and Saudi Arabia signed a massive arms deal, amounting to nearly $142 billion, an agreement being called by the White House as the largest in history.
In a statement, the White House said, “The United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defence sales agreement in history - nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment”.
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The signing took place during Donald Trump’s bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia. The defence deal includes military systems, arms and services. The agreement also includes other commercial deals, exports of gas turbines.
Trump’s visit to the Middle East, includes planned stops in Qatar and the UAE. It is centered mainly on economic issues, and the US President will also be hoping to secure other major deals to increase investment from wealthy Gulf countries into the American economy.
Previously, Saudi Arabia announced plans to invest $600 billion in the US over the next four years. Meanwhile, Trump has said that he hopes it goes up to $1 trillion. He landed in Riyadh on Tuesday morning for his first official visit of his second term. Trump’s 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia showcased his close-ties to the oil-rich Gulf country.
In the first week of May, US also gave initial approval to sell $3.3 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets. The sale is also expected to be included in this arms deal. The sale consists of 1,000 AIM-120C-8 advanced medium range air-to-air missles, guidance systems and other technical support. The missiles will be built by RTX Corp of Tucson, Ariz.
In a statement after approval of the sale, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency said, “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that contributes to political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region.”
