Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Weapons System Sales are real threat to Gulf instability not Iran

U.S. companies key to gulf missile shield
by Staff Writers – Saudi Arabia- 9 January, 2012

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have become key elements in an accelerating drive by Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf partners to build an integrated missile defense shield to protect the energy producers against Iran’s growing missile arsenal.

On Jan. 2, the Raytheon Co. of Massachusetts announced a $582.5 million contract to supply the United Arab Emirates, a regional military heavyweight, with AN/TPY-2 radars for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system, or THAAD.

The seven-emirate federation is the first foreign buyer of THAAD, for which Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor.

Under a $3.48 billion deal announced in Washington Dec. 25, the emirates acquired two units with 96 interceptor missiles.

The missiles are produced at its Troy, Ala., facility. The AN/TPY-2 X-band radars will be manufactured at Raytheon’s plant in Massachusetts.

Two years ago, the Americans deployed one of their AN-TPY-2 units in Israel’s Negev desert south of Tel Aviv to bolster Israeli missile defenses with the capability to detect Iranian ballistic missiles at long range. But the unit remains under U.S. control.

Discussions are under way for a THAAD sale to Saudi Arabia. Washington is also urging the kingdom to upgrade its 16 Patriot Advanced Capability-2 batteries, which have 96 missiles, to PAC-3 standard.

Raytheon announced Jan. 4 that it had completed its first Configuration-3 Patriot radar upgrade for Kuwait’s military, the first of six such upgrades for the northern gulf emirate which has 40 PAC-2 Patriots.

The Saudis are also contemplating the purchase of DDG- 51 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers that could be armed with ballistic missile defense capability.

These would be the most powerful vessels in the Saudi navy, whose main surface combatants are currently French destroyers and frigates.

The U.S. Navy’s 9,100-ton DDG 51s form the backbone of its BMD force and one of these vessels is always deployed in the gulf.

The kingdom is reported to be considering the purchase of up to a dozen new warships worth between $20 billion-$23 billion under Naval Expansion Program II.

Apart from U.S. moves to maintain cutting-edge defenses against Iran in the region, Washington has long pressed the gulf monarchies to upgrade and strengthen their missiles defenses. …more