US quietly clears $7 billion arms boost for UAE – Patriot PAC-3 missiles, CH-47 Chinook helicopters on list
Story by Times Now Digital
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us quietly clears $7 billion arms boost for uae – patriot pac-3 missiles, ch-47 chinook helicopters on list
Amid the escalating war in West Asia, the US has reportedly approved $7 billion more in weapons for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Donald Trump administration has approved about $7 billion in weapons for the United Arab Emirates that the State Department is not required to announce to the public under rules governing US arms exports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Middle East Tensions Escalate – Check Live Updates Here
Trump Officials Bypass Congress to Sell Weapons to U.A.E., Kuwait and Jordan
What Happened: Trump officials declared a wartime emergency to bypass Congress and fast-track more than $23 billion in weapons sales to Middle East allies, marking the second time in weeks it has sidestepped congressional review. Some of the deals were still under review or had not been formally submitted before being pushed through.
Why It Matters: Emergency powers are being used to push major arms sales without congressional oversight. This expands unchecked executive authority over foreign policy and war-making decisions while sidelining democratic checks at a critical moment.
Ukraine is currently facing a critical shortage of Patriot missiles due to increased demand from conflicts in the Middle East, which has depleted global stocks. This situation may leave Ukraine vulnerable to Russian missile attacks as it struggles to secure additional interceptor missiles. ukranews.com tsn.ua
Ukraine the inventors in hard times:
Zelenskyy answers why Ukraine does not produce ballistic missile interceptors: We need a US license
The head of state commented on the creation of domestic missiles against ballistic targets of the occupiers
Patriot launchers (Illustrative photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the only obstacle to the production of a missile in Ukraine to intercept Russian ballistic missiles is that the United States does not grant the appropriate licenses. The head of state said this during a conversation with the media.
“This [creation of an anti-ballistic missile interceptor] requires only one thing – licenses from the United States,” Zelenskyy said.
He said that he had discussed this issue with the previous US administration, with the manufacturers of these missiles, with partners to help, with NATO leadership, and with the current US government, but Kyiv has not yet received a license.
“In principle, with this industry that we have built during this war, with the technologies, with our engineers, I am sure that we could produce a large number of missiles very quickly, and we would provide not only Ukraine, but the whole of Europe,” the president added.
During the same conversation with journalists, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has already sent specialists to fight Iranian drones to a number of Middle Eastern countries, and that Kyiv wants to receive missiles for Patriot air defense systems in return.
To clarify, what else does Ukraine want, besides this, the president said: “To be honest, we don’t want to be sprayed. That’s why Patriots are a priority for us. We are talking about different missiles: PAC-2, PAC-3”.
Zelenskyy said that Kyiv “no longer even dreams” of additional Patriot systems, but admitted that it would like to receive them if “we are talking about something else besides missiles.”
Patriot is one of the few Western systems capable of shooting down ballistic missiles used by the occupiers to attack Ukraine on a regular basis. In the article for LIGA.net expert Valentyn Badrak said that Ukrainian developers have created the Shershen system, which is better than the Patriot in that it can use a wider range of missiles, but it is still not in service.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
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