DefenceTalkPresident Donald Trump’s administration wants to sell arms to Saudi Arabia again, one year after pushing through a controversial $8.1 billion contract despite congressional opposition, an influential US senator revealed on Wednesday. “The administration is currently trying to sell thousands more precision-guided bombs to the President’s ‘friend,’ Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” New Jersey […]https://www.defencetalk.com/trump-planning-new-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia-says-senator-75679/

DefenceTalkBoeing has been awarded two contracts worth more than $2 billion for the delivery of more than 1,000 air-to-surface and anti-ship missiles to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said Wednesday. A first contract, worth $1.97 billion, is for the modernization of SLAM ER cruise missiles as well as delivery of 650 new missiles “in support of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/boeing-to-deliver-slam-er-missiles-to-saudi-75528/

DefenceTalkThe US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defense Department official said Thursday. Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed following the September attacks on Saudi oil installations “are now […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-pulling-patriot-missile-batteries-from-saudi-75472/

DefenceTalkThe Canadian government said Thursday that it had renegotiated the terms of a $14 billion light armored vehicles contract with Saudi Arabia, paving the way for exports to recommence. Vehicle sales had been on hold since 2018 due to tensions between Ottawa and Riyadh over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia’s involvement […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canada-looks-to-reinstate-saudi-arms-sales-agreement-75116/

DefenceTalkGerman media reported on Monday that the German government had approved an extension of the arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, which will now last until December 31, 2020. This decision marks the third extension to the arms embargo, which was initially enacted in late 2018 after the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-extends-arms-embargo-on-saudi-arabia-74966/

DefenceTalkJUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: The U.S. Navy and the Royal Saudi Naval Forces are participating in exercise Nautical Defender 20 (ND 20), Feb. 23-27. ND is a bilateral maritime exercise designed to build and sustain combined warfighting capabilities, support long-term regional security and enhance military-to-military interoperability between the U.S. and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “Capstone exercises […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-saudi-bilateral-maritime-security-exercise-begins-74315/

Claims that Yemeni rebels shot down a Saudi warplane have spotlighted the increasingly potent Huthi arsenal — cause for alarm in Riyadh as fighting escalates amid faltering efforts to end the five-year conflict. The Iran-aligned Huthi rebels said they downed the Tornado aircraft on Friday over the volatile northern province of Al-Jawf, in a setback […]

A Saudi cargo ship on a suspected mission to collect weapons for use in the war in Yemen arrived in the French port of Cherbourg on Thursday. The Bahri Yanbu arrived at around 5 pm (1600 GMT) in Cherbourg, where dozens of activists held a protest over the sale of arms to Riyadh given its […]

The Belgian region of Wallonia, home to the FN Herstal and CMI arms plants, said Thursday it had halted weapons sales to Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry because of the war in Yemen. Confirming a report in the newspaper L’Echo, Wallonia said Minister-President Elio di Rupo had “the Yemen drama” in mind when refusing an export […]

Greece will send some of its Patriot air defence missiles to Saudi Arabia under a program involving the US, Britain and France, the government spokesman said Tuesday. Athens will deploy the missiles at Saudi cost “to protect critical energy infrastructure,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters. “The deployment contributes to energy security, promotes our country […]