The United States has approved an arms deal with Jordan worth approximately $4.21 billion in the early weeks of February 2022, according to a government release on the sale. The deal is worth more than any other arms deal the U.S. has made with a country in over a year.
Included in the sale are munitions and a large assortment of equipment like radars and engines, but the bulk the $4.21 billion price point comes from the 16 fighter jets being sold.
The last deal the U.S. made that exceeded this February deal to Jordan was a $10.4 billion sale of fighter jets to the UAE back in November 2020.
Jordan is one of the United States’ biggest allies in the Middle East but arms deals by the U.S. to Arab countries are not rare.
The U.S. sells more arms than any other country in the world and the Middle East receives more of these arms than any other region. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, countries in the Middle East accounted for 51% of all arms sales the U.S. made between 2015 and 2019.
Less than a month ago on Jan. 25, 2022, the U.S. made two arms deals with Egypt for C-130 aircraft and equipment worth a combined total of $2.55 billion.
The U.S. government report for the Jordan sale noted, “These aircraft will modernize the Jordanian fighter aircraft fleet and support operational requirements associated with regional U.S.-coalition goals, such as countering violent extremist organizations…”
