Forever buying new weapons from the United States, Saudi Arabia is now particularly keen to get hold of ammunition for its missile defense systems, which it says are dangerously low.
The US had long positioned its own missile defenses in the Saudi kingdom, but removed them in late August. The Saudis have since been using Patriot missiles to intercept enemy missiles or drones.
Patriot missiles may not be economical for this, but the Saudis have been dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into US arms, and this may not bother them. The Senate remains unwilling too block the arms sales, so such sales will likely be drawn up.
Making such sales to the Saudis will only encourage them to drag out the Yemen War, while a difficulty in obtaining missile defenses might encourage them to make peace, or at least stop the escalation leading to cross-border attacks.
Saudis Plead for More US Missile Defense Supplies
Patriot missiles are used for anti-missile and anti-drone actions
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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