Saudi Arabia Purchases Pair of KC-130Js

Saudi Arabia has purchased two Lockheed Martin KC-130J tanker aircraft, a deal worth $180 million for the company.

The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract was awarded Oct. 3, but due to the US government shutdown, it was not announced by the Pentagon until Oct. 18. The planes will be delivered by April 2016.

Last November, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Saudi FMS purchase of 20 C-130J cargo planes and five KC-130Js. That combined package, which included the two KC-130J sales announced last week, was estimated at $6.7 billion for the planes, engines and support.

“These are two new aircraft,” Stephanie Stinn, a Lockheed spokeswoman, confirmed in an email. “This is an FMS sale, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a legacy C-130 operator. Saudi Arabia will be the 16th C-130J operator.”

Based on the C-130 airframe, the KC-130J carries more than 12,000 gallons of fuel. Primarily used by the US Marine Corps,

US to sell $10.8 bln in missiles, bombs to Saudis, UAE

The Pentagon said Thursday it plans to sell Washington’s Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates $10.8 billion worth of missiles and munitions, including “bunker-buster” bombs.

The move follows a series of US weapons deals in recent years that have bolstered the air power and missile arsenals of Gulf states, which view Iran as a menacing rival with nuclear ambitions.

The pending sale comes as the United States and five other major powers pursue high-stakes diplomacy on Iran’s disputed nuclear program, with talks this week portrayed as positive by both sides.

Officials said the Defense Department notified Congress this week of the planned deal that will provide a thousand bunker-buster GBU-39 bombs to the Saudis and 5,000 to the UAE.

The sale will also include sophisticated air-launched cruise missiles that can hit targets from a long distance.

Saudi Arabia Signs $1.7bn Deal For Upgrade Of Patriot Missile Defense System

 Saudi Arabia has placed a $1.7 billion direct commercial sales contract with Raytheon Company to upgrade the Kingdom’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the latest Configuration-3. The award includes ground-system hardware, a full training package and support equipment upgrades.

Top Ten Military Expenditure Database

List of countries by military expenditures :

1. United States : 682,478,000,000 $


2. People's Republic of China :166,107,000,000$

3. Russia : 90,749,000,000$

4. United Kingdom : 61,007,000,000$

5. Japan :59,267,000,000$

6. France :58,943,000,000$

7. Saudi Arabia :56,724,000,000$

8. India : 45,785,000,000$

9. Germany : 43,478,000,000$

10. Italy : 34,004,000,000$

11. Brazil : 33,143,000,000$

12. South Korea : 31,660,000,000$

13. Australia : 31,660,000,000$

14. Canada : 22,600,000,000$

15. Turkey : 18,184,000,000$