Defence

US Congress has been notified of the possible sale of Raytheon Patriot air defence systems to the United Arab Emirates, potentially worth up to $9 billion.

The proposed sale includes nine Patriot fire units with 10 phased-array radars, 37 launching stations and 288 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles plus 216 Guidance Enhanced Missiles-T (GEM-T). PAC-3 missiles are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and GEM/T by Raytheon.

PAC-3 is designed specifically for use against theatre ballistic missiles, while the GEM/T is a PAC-2 missile with improved capability against TBMs as well as low-altitude cruise missiles.

Seperately the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress of the possible $1.36 billion upgrade of Kuwait's existing Patriot missile batteries. The proposed sale includes 80 PAC-3 missiles and GEM-T upgrade kits for 60 PAC-2 missiles, plus radar updates.