WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Department of State cleared a possible foreign military sale of 96 Raytheon-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the Netherlands in a deal estimated to be worth $1.2 billion.
The Netherlands requested to buy the Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical, or GEM-T, missiles, which the State Department said support its goal of improving its defenses and increase its interoperability with the U.S. and fellow NATO forces.
“The proposed sale will improve the Netherlands’ capability to meet current and future threats,” the announcement reads.
When Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren visited the Pentagon on July 13, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin thanked her for the Netherlands’ provision of lethal equipment, like artillery and coastal defense, to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
The Patriot sale was one of four possible deals the State Department announced Thursday. The others are:
- Kuwait’s purchase of 60 AIM-120 C-7/8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and bombs of various types worth $397 million for its Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft fleet. The bombs, which include 250 MK-84 General Purpose 2,000-pound bombs; 501 MK-83 General Purpose 1,000-lb bombs, among other kit, would come from Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin.
- Australia’s purchase of 80 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles - Extended Range made by Lockheed and worth $235 million. The long-range strike systems are for use by the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Lightning II.
- The United Arab Emirates’ purchase of an oceanographic observation equipment system made by Lockheed and worth $206 million. The package includes multi-site sensor and data collection and analysis facilities, with fiber optics and uninterruptible power supplies.
Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
