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  • As US watches, China and Saudi Arabia shy away from defense deals during Xi’s visit

    That the White House has sought to advance military cooperation with Gulf states and continues to provide defensive weapons and intelligence even as it says it is reevaluating its relationship with Saudi Arabia over the OPEC+ dispute is perhaps the clearest sign that the Biden administration is wary about ceding too much of its security role in the Gulf. Current and former US officials say air defenses remain Arab Gulf states’ most sought-after military hardware as they face the threat of Iran’s missiles and drones. But China’s designs on Taiwan and Russia’s war in Ukraine have placed even greater strain on typically thin US stockpiles.

  • As US watches, China and Saudi Arabia shy away from defense deals during Xi’s visit

    That the White House has sought to advance military cooperation with Gulf states and continues to provide defensive weapons and intelligence even as it says it is reevaluating its relationship with Saudi Arabia over the OPEC+ dispute is perhaps the clearest sign that the Biden administration is wary about ceding too much of its security role in the Gulf. Current and former US officials say air defenses remain Arab Gulf states’ most sought-after military hardware as they face the threat of Iran’s missiles and drones. But China’s designs on Taiwan and Russia’s war in Ukraine have placed even greater strain on typically thin US stockpiles.

  • Saudi Arabia demanded defense firms set up in country by 2024. So far, most seem unmoved.

    A number of major foreign defense firms — companies such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies and Rheinmetall — are already established in the Kingdom through subsidiaries or joint ventures with local firms. Those, analysts said, would likely allow the firms to duck the Saudi mandate.

  • US-Gulf maritime surveillance co-operation heralds a new era in defense relations

    But in the wake of the Ukraine war, and what amounts to a new campaign of containment and deterrence against Iran given the failure of the nuclear negotiations, the Biden administration has sent much more positive signals. In early November, Saudi Arabia alerted the US to a potential Iranian plan to strike the kingdom to distract from continued unrest in Iran. US fighter jets were scrambled in an aggressive show of force that appears to have succeeded in deterring the attack.

  • A New Chapter for UAE Defense Procurement?

    During the past nine months, the United Arab Emirates has closed deals for the purchase of substantial weapons systems from France, South Korea, China, Indonesia, Turkey, and Israel. If these deals come to fruition, they could mark a new era for Emirati arms procurement, where an emphasis on strategic autonomy and transfers of technology might push the UAE toward an increasingly diversified pool of suppliers, where the United States no longer reigns supreme.

  • Saudi defense ministry, Spain’s Navantia sign combat ships agreement

    Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry and Saudi General Authority for Military Industries signed an agreement with Spain’s Navantia company to acquire and build a number of multi-mission combat ships for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

  • Saudi Arabia And South Korea Are Forging Closer Defense Ties

    South Korea offers purchasers of its arms technology transfers and the opportunity to manufacture systems locally. Saudi Arabia aims to expand its modest domestic arms industry exponentially over the next decade. Riyadh has already signed an agreement with China to manufacture Chinese drones on Saudi soil and also wants a factory for locally manufacturing Turkish Bayraktar TB2s. Seoul could offer Riyadh similar arrangements for its various systems.

  • US building ‘air and maritime defense’ system in Mideast to deter ‘imminent threats’

    Brett McGurk, the National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, told the annual Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain that his country is focused on deterring “imminent threats” in the strategic energy-rich and conflict-ridden region. “The United States is now actively building and enabling an integrated air and maritime defense architecture in this region,” said McGurk, the top White House official on the Middle East.

  • Abuses by defense contractors at U.S. military bases in Persian Gulf trap migrant workers, employees say

    In the past five years, the Pentagon has responded to 176 reported instances of labor trafficking on military bases in the Persian Gulf and beyond, in most cases by requiring better monitoring of employment practices, according to State Department reports reviewed by NBC News.

  • Opinion: America’s Defense of Saudi Arabia Is an Asset, Not a Liability

    The disproportion is the point, though. By guaranteeing China’s supplies of oil, Washington quietly holds enormous leverage. In the event of an invasion of Taiwan, US sea power in the Gulf and Indian Ocean gives it the option of a Russian-style strategy, using embargoes around the straits of Hormuz and Singapore to cut off roughly three-quarters of the oil fueling Beijing’s war machine. While China’s domestic oil production would be able to step up in such a crisis, the pain such a scenario would inflict on the economy and the risk of popular unrest vastly raise the cost of warfare.