The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of a THAAD defense system to Saudi Arabia, at an estimated cost of $15 billion, Reuters reports.
“This sale furthers U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, and supports the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian and other regional threats,” the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation agency said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia and the United States are highly critical of what they consider Iran’s aggressive behavior in the Middle East, Reuters adds. Iran also has one of the biggest ballistic missile programs in the Middle East.
According to Al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia had also agreed to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, an announcement that came as Saudi King Salman made during his visit to Russia.
Lockheed Martin Co (LMT.N) is the prime contractor for the THAAD system, with Raytheon Co (RTN.N) playing an important role in the system’s deployment. The United States deployed THAAD to South Korea this year to guard against North Korea’s shorter-range missiles, Reuters notes.
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