The State Department also approved a possible sale of $500mn worth of ammunition to be ‘used to protect Saudi Arabia’s southern border’

The US State Department has approved the possible foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles and equipment built by Lockheed Martin Corp, worth $5.4 billion.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the possible sale and is awaiting approval to execute.

The missile sale approval could help reassure Saudi Arabia about the U.S. commitment to its security. The sale would benefit a key U.S. partner in the Middle East, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile is one the most advanced, capable and powerful terminal air defense missiles in the world. The PAC-3 Missile is a high-velocity interceptor that defeats incoming targets by direct, body-to-body impact.

The Saudi government requested 600 PAC-3 cost-reduction initiative missiles with containers, according to DSCA, along with eight test missiles, telemetry kits, guidance enhanced missiles, fire solution computers, launcher modification kits and other related equipment.

Notification to Congress was sent on Tuesday and “Lockheed Martin is supporting the U.S. government and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as they discuss the potential sale of additional PAC-3 Missiles as part of the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force,” Lockheed said in a statement.

The expected multi-billion-dollar sale comes weeks after the US and five other world powers finalized the nuclear deal with Iran, which decided to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for curtailing its nuclear programme. Tehran’s arch-rival Riyadh has been highly sceptical about the deal but seems to have tentatively accepted it after repeatedly seeking “reassurances” from Washington that the deal would not threaten their safety.