Saudi Arabia: US approves tank, aeronautics orders

The US Department of State approved a $1.15bn order for tanks and other equipment by Saudi Arabia on 9 August. The contract includes 153 M1/A2S Saudi Abrams main battle tanks as well as 419 machine guns, 133 smoke grenade launchers, 20 armoured recovery vehicles, and 6,650 rounds of training ammunition.The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a $495m contract for aircraft maintenance upgrade training for Boeing F-15S jets operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force. The work was awarded to California-based PKL Services on 1 September and will take place over the next five years.