Middle East Eye: Saudi and American defense cooperation accelerates arms sales

According to Isna, a person familiar with this contract told Middle East Eye on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity: “Talks have changed from ‘we will see’ to ‘yes, but how and when’.”

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have signed a new Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA), the White House announced on Tuesday.

The details of the agreement are being reviewed by US government officials. A former senior U.S. official familiar with the process confirmed to Middle East Eye that the deal puts Saudi Arabia well ahead of other Gulf states and U.S. partners in terms of wait times and negotiations for advanced U.S. weapons.

“The Saudis have received Trump’s permission to acquire the best defense technology,” the former official said.

Notably, the deal appears to confirm Trump’s commitment from Tuesday to sell “superior” F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, despite Israeli lobbying to ensure the kingdom receives “less advanced” aircraft.

The F-35 is just one of the items on Saudi Arabia’s shopping list. Delivery of the F-35 could still take years, so the kingdom is looking to more futuristic weapons systems such as CCA drones.

The CCA is a special type of drone designed by the US military to fly alongside manned aircraft such as the F-35. They can move ahead of warplanes and conduct jamming operations or launching missiles.

Saudi Arabia is currently in talks with the US’s Shield AI to acquire small and agile drones.

On Tuesday, General Atomics CEO David Alexander said his company is in talks to sell up to 200 CCA drones in addition to the traditional MQ-9B drones. The defense deal is related to military technology, and Saudi Arabia is expected to unveil separate contracts related to civilian nuclear technology and artificial intelligence chips.

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