The US and Qatar have finalized an $11 billion arms deal, which will provide advanced PATRIOT air defense batteries to the Gulf state, as well as other materiel, according to a July 14 release. The deal highlights the “strong partnership between the United States and Qatar in the area of security and defense,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby. The US-Qatar alliance is a “critically important relationship” in the region, Kirby added. Qatar and the US updated their defense pact last December, and the new deal upgrades the country’s air and missile defense capabilities. The PATRIOT sale, first unveiled in November 2012 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, provides 11 modernized PATRIOT batteries, equipment, and logistical support—valued at over $9 billion. In July 2012, DSCA informed Congress of the potential sale of 24 AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters and associated equipment to the Qataris, valued at an estimated $3 billion at the time. In March 2013, the Pentagon also announced the potential sale of 500 Javelin anti-tank missiles, valued at $122 million.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.