A Lockheed Martin concept for variations of the Freedom-class LCS design from corvette to Frigate sized hulls. Lockheed Martin Photo
Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-class ship variants are set to form the backbone of the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet as part of a $11.25 billion foreign military sales case presented to Congress on Monday. Read More
The following is an Oct. 20, 2015 Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification to Congress on a $11.25 billion, four ship sale to Saudi Arabia. Read More
One lesson Saudi Arabia took from its 2009 encounter with Houthis in Yemen, raiding its border posts and harassing tribes in that region, was the value of Saudi special forces in those conflicts. Since then it has built up those capabilities as part of its evolving military doctrine, Prince Sultan bin Khaled al Faisal said Thursday. Read More
A Lockheed Martin concept for variations of the Freedom-class LCS design from corvette to Frigate sized hulls. Lockheed Martin Photo
Saudi Arabia is leaning toward buying a variant of the Lockheed Martin Littoral Combat Ship as a key component of a long-awaited multi-billion dollar refresh of its Eastern Fleet in a deal that could close as early as year’s end, according to press reports confirmed by USNI News. Read More
ISIS fighters in Iraq. Reuters Photo
Fourteen years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center the U.S. still has “no comprehensive strategy to defeat radical Islam” in Yemen, Iraq, Syria or any other place,” one of the key figures in the development of the 2007 surge strategy in Iraq said Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute during a roll out of a new report from the think tank. Read More
Marine patrols through southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sept. 3, 2014. US Marine Corps Photo
Arab countries may look to develop their own nuclear capabilities regardless of the United States’ ability to reach an agreement with Iran, panelists agreed at the discussion of a new Atlantic Council report on changing the American approach to Middle East security. Read More
An F/A-18C Hornet attached to the Stingers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 makes an arrested recovery during the final flight operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) on April 11, 2015. US Navy photo.
Saudi Arabia has been a vital, even if less talked about, partner in U.S. counterterrorism efforts, Fran Townsend, a senior adviser to President George W. Bush, said Thursday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event. Read More
US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with the late King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who died in early 2015. US State Department Photo
The late April shuffling of the line of succession to the Saudi Arabian throne, plus a major shift in ministers of defense and foreign affairs, raised a number of questions about stability in the kingdom, continuing sectarian warfare in the Middle East, a new arms race in the region and future energy prices. Read More
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at a news conference with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullain late 2013. Reuters Photo
Looking ahead to Monday’s United States-Gulf Cooperation Council summit meeting at Camp David, the ambassador from the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. said the talks would focus on more than the ongoing multi-lateral nuclear talks with Iran, United Arab Emirates ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al Otaibi, said on Thursday. Read More
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert meets with heads of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) in 2013. US Navy Photo
The $20 billion dollar recapitalization of Saudi Arabia’s eastern fleet is beginning to pick up steam again after several years of being a dormant U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, several U.S. shipbuilding industry officials have told USNI News. Read More
