Washington- The US State Department has approved arms sales packages worth more than $3.8 billion to Bahrain including F-16 jets, upgrades, missiles and patrol boats, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The proposed sales include 19 F-16V jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp which could have a value of up to $2.7 billion, the Pentagon said as Reuters reported.
Other potential sales approved Friday include two 35 meter (114 feet) patrol boats with machine guns, 221 anti-tank missiles made by Raytheon Co and $1.8 billion worth of upgrades to Bahrain’s existing fleet of F-16 jets, the Pentagon said in separate statements.
The approvals coincide with the State Department’s notification to Congress, which had held up a similar arms deal last year.
But a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity said the proposed sales were cleared by the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees through the regular “tiered review process” which precedes this formal notification.
In May, US President Donald Trump said Washington’s relations with Bahrain would improve, after meeting with the king of the Gulf Arab state during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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