The Trump administration has informed the U.S. Congress of its intent to sell American-made combat aerial drones plus advanced missiles and bombs to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Department of State said the UAE wants to acquire 18 General Atomics MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) for some $2.9 billion. Fifteen have definitely been ordered with three more drones likely to be added later on.
In addition, the UAE also intends to pay up to $10 billion for the drone's missiles and bombs. Included in this sum are precision-guided munitions such as air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground missiles. There's also a request to buy "dumb" bombs or unguided freefall bombs.
The SeaGuardians are scheduled for delivery by 2024. After members of Congress are briefed about the sale as an "informal notification," the State Department will issue a formal notification of the sale. Afterwards, Congress has 30 days to object to the deal.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc said SeaGuardian is capable of Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). The 40 meter-long drone can reach an altitude of 40,000 feet.
SeaGuardian is optimized for over-the-horizon long-endurance, medium-altitude Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. It has a range of more than 11,000 km and an endurance of more than 40 hours.
The SeaGuardian deal with the UAE will be the second such sale since the Trump administration eased its strict rules on the export of sophisticated drone technology to allied nations.
It will be the second big-ticket weapons acquisition by the UAE. The notification to Congress comes only a week after the Trump administration issued an informal notice to Congress of its plan to sell 50 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth jets to the UAE.
The Trump administration Thursday notified Congress it planned to sell the F-35As to the UAE for some $10 billion. The F-35A is the conventional-takeoff-and-landing variant of the stealth fighter. Democrats, however, intend to block the sale of the F-35s.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced legislation that places new obstacles on the sales of the F-35 to Middle East countries outside of Israel.
"The Trump Administration has made it clear that they'll put lethal weaponry in just about anyone's hands without regard to potential loss of life so long as the check clears," said Engel. "So it's up to Congress to consider the ramifications of allowing new partners to purchase the F-35 and other advanced systems.
