Saudi Arabia inks deal for missile system

WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia will buy Lockheed Martin’s US$15bil (RM62.9bil) missile defence system, a US Department of State spokesman said, after aggressive lobbying by the administration to close the deal that included a personal call between President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman.

The State Department said the Saudis and US officials signed the letters of offer and acceptance documents on Monday, formalising terms for Saudi’s purchase of 44 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launchers, missiles and related equipment.

In recent weeks the Trump administration and the US defence industry worked to save the few actual deals in the much-touted US$110bil (RM461bil) arms package for Saudi Arabia amid rising concerns about the role of the kingdom’s leadership in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi critic.

The THAAD deal had been under discussion since December 2016 and is now completed, the spokesperson said. Trump and King Salman discussed in a late September phone call the THAAD missile defence system deal, a Saudi official told Reuters in October.

The official said at that time that the deal could well be closed by the end of the year.

The State Department spokesman said the deal supports the “long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of the growing ballistic missile threat from the Iranian regime and Iran-backed extremist groups.”