State Department Approves $12 Billion in Arms Sales for Saudi Arabia in Less Than a Week

The State Department on Tuesday approved a potential $3 billion F-15 fighter jet sustainment deal for Saudi Arabia, as the Trump administration is fulfilling its pledge to sell Riyadh a large number of weapons.

The latest deal came less than a week after the State Department moved forward with another major potential deal for Patriot air defense missiles worth $9 billion.

The $12 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia came a few months after Saudi Crown Prince Mohhamed bin Salman visited President Trump at the White House, where they signed a new military agreement, dubbed the US-Saudi Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA), and the US designated Riyadh a “major non-NATO ally.”