US to deliver American Patriot missiles to UAE in 2020-2021

Baku. 18 February. REPORT.AZ/ Deliveries of anti-aircraft guided missiles for Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, operationally available within the army of the United Arab Emirates, will begin in 2020-2021, a source in the American company-manufacturer of these missiles Raytheon reported at the 14th International Defence Exhibition & Conference IDEX 2019, Report informs citing TASS.

"Raytheon and the UAE armed forces have earlier signed a contract worth more than $356 million for the supply of missiles for Patriot air defense systems. The Middle Eastern state will receive missiles in a modified PAC-3 configuration (Patriot Advanced Capability-3), deliveries will begin in 2020-2021," the source said.

A Raytheon spokesman did not clarify the number of missiles ordered, noting that their number would be "at least several dozen."

The contract between the UAE Armed Forces and Raytheon was the largest arms purchase agreement signed on the first day of the IDEX 2019 exhibition, February 17. The UAE has been the operator of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems since 2009.