The Pentagon notified the US Congress Friday of possible sales to Saudi Arabia of M1 Abrams tanks and upgrades of AH-64 attack helicopters valued at as much as 3.3 billion dollars.
It followed a notification last week of an even bigger proposed sale to Saudi Arabia, involving more than six billion dollars in light armored vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters and other gear.
Friday's notification calls for the sale of 58 modified and upgraded M1A1 tanks and upgrades to 315 MIA2 tanks already in Saudi Arabia's inventory. The Pentagon estimated the cost at 2.9 billion dollars.
"The proposed sale and upgrade will allow Saudi Arabia to operate and exercise a more lethal and survivable M1A2S tank for the protection of critical infrastructure," a Pentagon statement said.
A separate proposed sale involves the remanufacture and upgrade of 12 UH-64A Apache attack helicopters, which along with related gear was estimated to cost 400 million dollars.
The upgraded attack helicopters will be used to protect borders and oil infrastructure, it said.
The Pentagon also announced the possible sale to the United Arab Emirates of 26 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters valued at as much as 808 million dollars.
