Iran's Gulf neighbour, the United Arab Emirates, has signed a deal worth $3.3 billion to buy missiles from US firm Raytheon, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The US Defence Department said in September it had proposed the sale of air defence systems and helicopters to the UAE with a total potential value of more than $9 billion.
The main item in the Pentagon-proposed package was Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, worth up to $7 billion. The system is built by Lockheed Martin Corp with a system radar from Raytheon Co. The National, an Abu Dhabi based-newspaper, said the deal was to buy Patriot missiles.
The proposed package included up to $121 million for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Systems from Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. In recent years, the UAE has acquired advanced weapons systems from several countries, including the United States.