State Department Approves Military Sales to UAE; Meeks Opposes Deals
The State Department approved two possible military sales to the United Arab Emirates, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said May 12.
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One sale includes $1.32 billion worth of "CH-47F Chinook Helicopters" and related equipment, and the principal contractors will be Boeing Helicopter Aircraft Co. and Honeywell Engine Co.
The other would give the UAE $130 million worth of F-16 aircraft components, spare parts and accessories, along with "related elements of logistics and program support," for a previous sale that was below the arms sale notification threshold for Congress. There are no principal contractors associated with this sale.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced May 13 that he and unspecified "Senate colleagues" plan to introduce joint resolutions of disapproval to block the sales. He said the UAE is prolonging Sudan’s two-year-old civil war by providing weapons to the Rapid Support Forces militia, which is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces.