The Pentagon’s security cooperation agency alerted Congress on Tuesday about plans to sell $ 290 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, which would include 3,000 precision-guided ammunition.
Why does it matter: The approval by the State Department of the potential agreement in the last weeks of the Trump administration comes despite the election of President-elect Joe Biden, who promised during his election campaign to end arms sales to the Saudis.
Details: Saudi Arabia has asked to buy GBU-39 SDB I ammunition, spare parts, government engineering and US contractors, weapons support, support equipment and other items and services, the Pentagon said in a statement. Boeing would be the main contractor.
- “The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s ability to cope with current and future threats by increasing its long-range precision air-to-ground ammunition stocks,” the statement said.
- “The size and accuracy of SDB I allows for efficient ammunition with less collateral damage. The potential sale will further strengthen interoperability between the United States and Saudi Arabia.”
Note: The Trump administration’s 2019 sale to Saudi Arabia has sparked bipartisan anger among lawmakers.
- The state inspector general found in August last year that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acted legally when he bypassed Congress to approve the $ 8 billion arms sale, but failed to “fully assess the risks and put mitigation measures to reduce civilian casualties ”resulting from the agreement.
- The Biden transition team declined to comment on the Pentagon’s latest announcement, saying it “would not be appropriate to do so during the transition period.”