I don't know if this is a case of the Saudi's getting nervous and wanting to make sure they have all the gear they could possibly need, the Saudi's simply spending money on gear because they have so much of it laying around or the Saudi's making a strategic decision to purchase gear to ease the pain of the oil shock that the US has been experiencing.
But the Saudi's are buying gear.
WASHINGTON --- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Friday of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia of a variety of light armored vehicles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $350 million.I've read that the Saudi National Guard is the heavy hitters in their military. Seems like they're going to be extremely well equipped.
The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of 25 LAV-25 series Light Armored Vehicles, 8 LAV Assault Guns, 8 LAV Anti-Tank Vehicles, 6 LAV Mortars, 2 LAV Recovery Vehicles, 24 LAV Command and Control Vehicles, 3 LAV Personnel Carriers, 3 LAV Ammo Carriers, 1 LAV Engineer Vehicle, 2 LAV Ambulances, AN/VRC 90E and AN/VRC-92E Export Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS), battery chargers, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and technical support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support.
The estimated cost is $350 million.
This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.
The proposed sale will improve the Saudi Arabian National Guard’s(Emphasis added—Ed.) ability to effectively conduct security and counter-terrorism operations, and would serve to make a key strategic partner in regional contingency operations more capable of defeating those who would threaten regional stability and less reliant on the deployment of U.S. forces to maintain or restore stability in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, which already has Light Armored Vehicles in its inventory, will have no difficulty absorbing these additional vehicles into its armed forces.
The proposed sale of this service will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The prime contractors will be ITT Aerospace/Communications in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Harris Corporation in Rochester, New York; General Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ontario, Canada; and Raytheon Corporation in Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Implementation of this sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Saudi Arabia. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded. (ends)
Can they even deploy all the equipment they've bought? Its been so much that they must have some just sitting in the sun.
Hopefully every weapon sold to the Saudis comes with a self destruct device.
ReplyDeletewell and there was a story about the saudis looking into purchusing a BMD capable destroyer, Burke class, they have been looking at AGEIS equiped LCS's but they dont have BMD capability.
ReplyDeleteSaudi guard had over 1100 v150 commandos. If they're going for the lav25 this is not very many and is either an operational trial batch or part of an on going program.
ReplyDeletev150 is beyond old tech....but that's quite alot.
ReplyDeletei haven't kept up with Saudi purchases but it makes you wonder why they didn't go with Patria AMV, Stryker or Piranha 4 or 5.
There were lots more powerful and sophisticated vehicles than the LAV150 when the Saudis were buying them (including the V300). It's guesswork but I'm thinking the Saudis were looking for an affordable vehicle that combined decent performance with reasonable cost and could serve as the basis for a family of vehicles, each tailored for a specialty.
ReplyDeleteGoing with LAV may be a perpetuation of the same philosophy: versatile, effective but reasonably cheap compared to top end equipment. I'm guessing even the Saudis care about cost when we're talking about a thousand vehicles.
Another, not mutually exclusive, possibility is that the Saudis just liked the LAVs they saw during OIF. Brochures and demos are nice, but when you've actually seen one type of vehicle doing well in battle, that's going to generate some WOOT.