The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress [link opens in PDF] Thursday of plans to sell a miscellaneous assortment of military support services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Valued at $4 billion in total, the line items to be "sold" as part of the U.S. supported project to modernize the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) range from:
- operational support and equipment, to
- personnel training and training equipment, to
- transportation, and the repair and return of spares and repair parts,
- automation initiatives
- "SANG Health Affairs Program support"
- construction, communication, and support equipment
- and other items too numerous to detail.
According to the DSCA, this proposed sale "will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by making a key regional ally and partner in the international fight against terrorism more capable of defeating those who would threaten regional stability and less reliant on the deployment of U.S. combat forces to maintain or restore stability in the Middle East."
Important to investors is that the DSCA notes that the principal contractor on this $4 billion sale will be an entity called "Vinell Arabia" -- which turns out to be a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman (NOC -1.56%), whose primary focus appears to be training the Saudi Arabian National Guard -- a mission it's performed for the past 30 years and counting.
