Taiwan: US greenlights $1.1 billion arms deal with Taiwan

The United States on Friday announced a potential $1.1 billion (€1.1 billion) arms sale to Taiwan, amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The State Department said the arms package aims to boost Taiwan's defense capabilities and includes $355 million for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85 million for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. 

An amount of $655 million would go toward a surveillance radar system to help Taiwan track incoming missiles.

Read more at:US greenlights $1.1 billion arms deal with Taiwan | News | DW | 02.09.2022

Saudi Arabia - US relations: 110 Billion dollar arms deal

The US Secretary of State proudly stated the huge multi-billion dollar arms sales agreements will help Saudi Arabia deal with 'malign Iranian influence and create thousands of new jobs in the US. 

Unfortunately, it will also mean hundreds of thousands of  people killed by these weapons.

The question, obviously, which should have been asked in this case: "wouldn't a ban on all weapons sales to the war  ravaged Middle East have been  a far better way to go?: "Maybe less profitable for the US Weapons Industry, but certainly a more moral way of action".

Specially for a country which prides itself to be a "champion for peac".  

EU-Digest

US-Israeli military arms deal provides 15-20 percent of Israels Military budget

The United States military aid to Israel amounts to a whopping 15 - 20 percent of Israel's annual military budget. Despite US largesse, a powerful political lobby in Washington enables Israeli intransigence.

Israel is procuring all kinds of arms from the United States, but most important for Israel has been the advanced combat aircraft, the F-15 and the F-16. And also very important now, the new F-35, the most advanced combat aircraft the US is willing to export to anyone. That is really significant for Israel because those weapons are often equipped with subsystems coming from the Israeli arms industry itself, such as the bombs and missiles. Those platforms are used to reach deep into the territory of an enemy. That is part of the core of Israeli military potential.

The Obama administration’s announcement that the US and Israel have agreed on a record new package of at least $38 billion in US military aid over a 10 year period is an effort to appease the US arms industry, according to an American writer and researcher who is based in Washington, DC.

Walt Peretto made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday, a day after the Reuters news agency reported that the 10-year pact between Washington and Tel Aviv is expected to be signed within days.

The deal will represent the biggest pledge of US military assistance ever made to any foreign party, American and Israeli officials told Reuters.

EU-Digest

​Sweden ends arms deal with Saudi Arabia after human rights standoff

Sweden will cancel its arms deal with Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has confirmed. The decision comes after the ultraconservative kingdom blocked the Swedish foreign minister’s speech on human rights at an Arab League meeting.

"It is true that it will be ended. The Minister of Defense will talk more about this later tonight," Lofven told reporters during an official visit to Kiev.
 
The controversial trade agreement, which included the export of military arms to Saudi Arabia – Sweden’s fourth biggest export market for arms outside the EU – was up for renewal this year.
 
Earlier on Tuesday, Arab foreign ministers defended Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and criticized Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom’s comments in which she accused the kingdom of blocking her speech at the Arab League meeting in Cairo. Wallstrom had been invited to the meeting as a guest of honor, as a nod to her country's recognition of Palestine last autumn.

Read more: Sweden ends arms deal with Saudi Arabia after human rights standoff — RT News

Iraq: Russia unveils $4.2 bn Iraq arms deals on Maliki visit

Russia Tuesday unveiled $4.2 billion in arms deals with Iraq that make it the strife-torn nation's largest weapons supplier after the United States and firm up its slipping foothold in the Middle East.

The groundbreaking shipments were disclosed ahead of talks between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Vladimir Putin that also offered Russia a rare chance to win key regional backing for its isolated position on Syria.

A joint statement issued after Maliki's negotiations on Tuesday with his counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said the contracts were agreed during delegation visits this year and totalled "more than $4.2 billion."

Russian media said the deliveries -- expected to have been signed in a single package this week -- covered 30 Mi-28 attack helicopters and 42 Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems.

Read more: Russia unveils $4.2 bn Iraq arms deals on Maliki visit | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR