The Biden administration mentioned Thursday it has cleared a potential sale of as many as 16 F-16 fighters and associated tools to Jordan value as much as $4.21 billion.
The State Division additionally permitted a potential extra sale to the United Arab Emirates of spares and restore components for air protection methods that may deliver its worth as much as $65 million, in addition to a potential $23.7 million sale to Saudi Arabia for knowledge and voice communication methods. The Protection Safety Cooperation Company notified Congress on Thursday of the potential international army gross sales.
Jordan needs to purchase as many as 12 F-16C and 4 F-16D fighters, all Block 70s, in addition to 21 F100 engines, both made by Common Electrical or Pratt & Whitney, 5 of which might be spare engines. Lockheed Martin in Greenville, South Carolina, would be the principal contractor for this sale.
The arms package deal would additionally embody quite a few weapons and methods to arm the fighters, reminiscent of six AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Superior Concentrating on Pods, 72 LAU-129 missile rail launchers, 21 M61A1 Vulcan cannons, 100 KMU-556 Joint Direct Assault Munition tail kits for two,000-pound GBU-31 bombs, 102 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits for 500-pound laser JDAM GBU-54 bombs, 200 MK-84 or BLU-117 or equal bomb our bodies, 204 MK-82 or BLU-111 or equal bomb our bodies, ammunition, smoke flares and flare cartridges.
Jordan additionally needs to purchase 31 Hyperlink 16 Low-Quantity Terminals for each plane and floor stations, radars, mission computer systems, GPS navigation methods with anti-spoofing modules and a number of different items of apparatus.
The sale would imply fewer than 20 U.S. contractors can be assigned to Jordan for 3 years to offer on-site logistics help.
State mentioned the fighter sale would assist modernize Jordan’s air power and ensure its army can proceed to work collectively successfully with U.S. and coalition forces on widespread objectives reminiscent of combating terrorist or different violent extremist teams.
The UAE International Navy Gross sales Order would supply extra spares and restore components for the Homing All of the Means Killer, or HAWK, Phased Array Monitoring Radar to Intercept on Goal, or Patriot, and Terminal Excessive Altitude Space Protection, or THAAD, weapons methods, in addition to extra logistics and different help.
State had already permitted a deal for this tools in a earlier $30 million sale; the newest proposed amended international army sale case would lengthen that by three extra years and convey the overall worth to $65 million.
The sale approval comes weeks after UAE used one in all its THAAD methods to intercept a ballistic missile throughout a Jan. 17 assault by Houthi militants in Abu Dhabi, which marked the primary time THAAD is understood to have been utilized in a army operation. The Lockheed Martin-made system destroyed a midrange ballistic missile fired at an Emirati oil facility close to Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. and French forces.
Saudi Arabia can also be permitted to purchase 31 Block 2 Multifunctional Data Distribution System-Low Quantity Terminals, or MIDS-LVTs. These will likely be added to a earlier $3 million sale of 11 Block 1 MIDS-LVTs.
The newly-purchased MIDS-LVTs are supposed to be put in on THAAD platforms. The primary spherical of MIDS-LVTs have been put in on Patriot methods.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter at Protection Information. He beforehand reported for Navy.com, masking the Pentagon, particular operations and air warfare. Earlier than that, he lined U.S. Air Drive management, personnel and operations for Air Drive Instances.