Love It or Hate It-What Saudi Arabia Is Buying in Its $110 Billion Arms Deal
Huge deals with israel, and Saudi Arabia. Our industrial war machine grows apace.
Tanks
Saudi Arabia is expecting 153 M1A1/A2 tank structures, which will be turned into 133 Saudi-specification M1A2S main battle tanks. Twenty additional tanks will replace those from the Saudis fleet that were lost in combat, possibly against Yemen. The tank sale also comes with M88A1/A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (HERCULES) – think of that like a tow truck for tanks – along with additional equipment, training, and support, according to the State Department. That tallies up to around $1.5 billion.THAAD
Perhaps the most controversial missile defense system in the world, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, will be sold to Saudi Arabia..
It is able to intercept short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, and as such makes it highly attractive to a country like Saudi Arabia, which is situated in a part of the world where missiles seem to start flying on the regular. Though there are plenty of critiques about the system, it is highly advanced and would be a powerful addition to Saudi Arabia’s ballistic missile defense.
Ships
The Saudis may be getting some “Multi-Mission Surface Combatants,” or MMSC ships, which are based on the Freedom-class Littorial Combat Ship primarily built by Lockheed Martin. It has a nautical range of 5,000 miles and can go as far as 30 knots per hour. Here is more on the ship:
The MMSC utilizes the COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System, built from the Aegis Combat System Software library. The MMSC integrated combat system solution leverages the domestic LCS integration of the 57mm Mk110 deck gun and SeaRAM, and expands multi-mission capability through integration of Over-The-Horizon surface-to-surface missiles, port and starboard 20 mm remote guns, a new fire control radar and a forward centerline 8 cell MK 41 Vertical Launch System equipped with RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles. The MMSC is also equipped with the AN/SLQ-25 Torpedo Defense system.
More: Here’s What Saudi Arabia Is Buying In Its $110 Billion Arms Deal