The US is planning to sell 25 warplanes to Saudi Arabia as part of an arms deal worth nearly $6.7 billion.

The Pentagon has announced that Washington will be keen to sell 20 C-130J military transport planes (photo) and 5 KC-130J refueling aircraft dubbed as Hercules.

“The proposed sale of these aircraft and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” said the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The Agency said the sale of the aircraft is for Saudi Arabia to “sustain its aging fleet, which faces increasing obsolescence”.

The multibillion dollar arms deal includes spare parts for the aircraft, training costs, and logistics apart from the aircraft, announced the Pentagon.

According to the Agency, the sale would “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East”.

The US is also intending to strategically strengthen Saudi Arabia's ballistic-missile defenses in order to counter the growing threat from Iran over the nuclear standoff.

The US Congress will have a month's time to raise any objection over the deal or else the proposal will go through as planned.

Washington has always tried to pacify its ally Israel over such arms deals with other countries saying the deals are aimed at winning more moderate allies in the region.

Saudi Arabia has been constantly increasing its defense expenses in recent years. In 2010, the Kingdom sealed a deal worth $60 billion with Washington, possibly the largest US arms deal ever.

The US had also agreed to sell 84 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in late 2011.

 

Source: ibtimes; DSCA