US approves $8.6 billion arms sale to Middle East bypassing Congress - Reuters

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has bypassed the Congressional review process for the sale of military equipment worth $8.6 billion to allies in the Middle East. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.

Details

The U.S. State Department's announcement comes amid nine weeks since the start of the war between the U.S. and Israel against Iran. This occurred several weeks after a shaky truce came into effect.

According to media reports, the sales involve equipment for Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. The State Department also stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio recognized the current situation in the region as an emergency - this allowed for the cancellation of the mandatory approval of the deals by the U.S. Congress.

Among the announced decisions is the approval of the sale to Qatar of replenishment services for "Patriot" air and missile defense systems worth $4.01 billion, as well as "Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems" (APKWS) worth $992.4 million.

The sale of an integrated battle command system to Kuwait worth $2.5 billion was also approved.

At the same time, the State Department approved the sale of APKWS systems to the UAE for $147.6 million.

The main contractors are leading companies:

• BAE Systems (responsible for the supply of APKWS);
• RTX and Lockheed Martin (supply of Patriot and command systems);
• Northrop Grumman (involved in the Kuwaiti contract).

As a reminder

Washington has warned European allies, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia, about a possible long delay in the delivery of American weapons due to the war against Iran.