US approves $1.3bn arms sale to Saudi including howitzers

The US government announced on Thursday its approval of a $1.3 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia providing a full howitzer artillery system, which according to experts would be deployed in the border region with Yemen.

The state department issued its authorisation of the howitzer structure sales to Saudi Arabia, and notified Congress late on Thursday. Congress will now have 30 days to review it, but its approval is not required for the sale to go through.

According to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the sale was requested by Riyadh and includes: 180 units of the 155mm M109A5/A6 medium self-propelled howitzer structures for conversion; 177 155mm M109A6 Paladin medium self-propelled howitzer systems; three fire support combined arms tactical trainers static training devices; 180 M2 HB 50 cal machine guns; and eight advanced field artillery tactical data systems. It also covers support, maintenance, engineering and testing of the system.

Read the full article at The National