Another billion dollar arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia is in the process of formalization that will bring American sales of military equipment and services to that oil-rich Arab country to well over $10 billion, the bulk of it since the oil embargo three years ago.
The Pentagon confirmed that within the “next few days” it will send to Congress for its consideration a program calling for the sale of $1.2 billion weapons and military construction to help Saudi Arabia upgrades its armed forces Congress has 20 days after receiving the Pentagon’s notice to reject the program in whole or in part. Previously, during the current fiscal year, the U.S. embarked on a $1.8 billion program for modernizing the Saudian air force. This was on top of $7.3 billion in previous programming.
In providing this data the Pentagon spokesman pointed out to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the programming began in 1950 and that deliveries through last June 30 totaled only $965 million. He also emphasized that 40-45 percent of the program is “non-lethal” and constituted training or support equipment.
Asked how many Americans were in Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said “fewer than 250” military personnel. He said he could not provide statistics on U.S. civilians, saying this was up to the State Department.
The fact that deliveries and services under the programming until seven months ago totaled slightly more than a tenth of the total program indicates when the majority of the contracts were let by the U.S. government.
ELEMENTS OF THE DEAL
According to usually reliable U.S. official sources, about $900 million of the latest deal will be for military contracts, including a major naval facility. The remaining $300 million will be in hardware that includes M-60 tanks, armored personnel carriers, “Dragon” anti-tank missiles that can be carried by a soldier, and “Maverick” air-to-ground missiles.
In addition to seeking to minimize the deals with Saudi Arabia by referring to the 25-year spread in contracting, the “non-lethal” aspects and low rate of deliveries, Pentagon sources took pains to inform some media here that the U.S. supplied the M-60 tanks to Israel for several years and the same kind of air-to-ground missiles to Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
The “Mavericks” have a television camera in their noses and are guided to their targets from a mother plane with a TV screen. The sources pointed out that the Saudians sought the new F-15 fighter plane that the U.S. recently agreed to sell to Israel when it is available, but aircraft are not included in the new agreement with the Saudians. The “Dragon” missiles are made by McDonnell-Douglas Corp., Raytheon Co. and Kollsman Instrument Co., it was reported.
CONGRESSIONAL OPPOSITION EXPECTED
The leakage of the comparative data with Israel is understood to be designed to help meet expected opposition from Israel’s supporters in Congress. With the Senate in recess this week, no direct comments were immediately available from its members, but the deal is expected to bring strong protest from pro-Israeli legislators and it may be blocked. A move by the Administration to sell 14 “Hawk” missile systems to Jordan last summer ran into heavy weather at the Capitol. Ultimately the number of missiles was left intact but the language in the contract was altered to restrict their use.
The Israelis had not been told in advance, it was said, about this new program with Saudi Arabia. They had been informed about the U.S. contemplated sale of six C-130 military transport planes and other military equipment to Egypt. This program has still to go before Congress. Under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the Pentagon is a middle man between the foreign purchaser and the American manufacturers. The Pentagon contracts directly with manufacturers and the foreign purchaser reimburse the Pentagon, paying a commission in addition to the sales price. Any deal involving more than $25 million is subject to Congressional authorization.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
