KUALA LUMPUR, December 15, Reuters - The United States is poised to move forward with the sale of F-35 fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates UAE U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday after reports that the UAE had suspended the discussion of the deal.
A UAE official told the United States on Tuesday that it would suspend discussions to acquire F-35 fighter jets as part of a $23 billion deal that includes drones and other advanced munitions.
Technical requirements, sovereign operational restrictions, and cost benefit analysis were among the reasons that led to a re-assessment of the deal by the UAE government.
People familiar with the situation told Reuters in January that the UAE had signed an agreement to purchase 50 F-35 jets and up to 18 armed drones.
Blinken said Washington had to conduct some reviews at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
For example, we wanted to make sure that our commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge is assured, so we wanted to make sure that we can do a thorough review of any technologies sold or transferred to other partners in the region, including the UAE, according to Blinken.
He said that if the UAE continues to want to pursue both of these, we continue to be prepared to move forward.
The sale of 50 F-35 warplanes made by Lockheed Martin LMT.N to the UAE had slowed due to concerns in Washington over Abu Dhabi's relationship with China, including its use of 5 G technology made by China's tech giant Huawei.
A person briefed on the negotiations said that for several months, the sticking points between the United States and the UAE revolved around how the stealthy jets could be deployed and how much sophisticated F-35 technology the UAE would be allowed to take advantage of. The person asked not to be identified by name or by association with either country.
The UAE, one of Washington's closest Middle East allies, had expressed interest in acquiring the F-35 jets and was promised a chance to buy them in a side deal when it agreed to normalize relations with Israel in August 2020.