Bahrain signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the U.S. to buy the Raytheon [RTN] Patriot air and missile defense system in a Foreign Military Sale (FMS), the company said Tuesday.
This milestone will allow the U.S. government to start contract negotiations with Raytheon for production of the systems. The company did not reveal how many systems and missiles are included in the agreement.
This development comes after the State Department previously approved a $2.5 billion FMS to Bahrain for 60 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, 36 MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM-T), nine M903 Launching Stations, and associated equipment in May (Defense Daily, May 3).
Raytheon noted this agreement and purchase will make Bahrain the 17th country to buy the Patriot.
The system “will ensure the Kingdom of Bahrain is well equipped to defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and manned and unmanned aircraft,” Ralph Acaba, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, said in a statement.
Raytheon builds the overall patriot system and GEM-T missiles while Lockheed Martin [LMT] produces the PAC-3 MSE missiles.
When the State Department approved the sale, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Bahrain would use the Patriot to deter regional aircraft and missile threats, strengthen defense, and enhance interoperability with U.S. forces.
Relatedly, in last month alone, the State Department approved a possible $401 million FMS of 50 PAC-3 MSE missiles to Germany (Defense Daily, July 15) and Raytheon confirmed it won $2.2 billion in contracts from Qatar that covers the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System and more Patriot fire units (Defense Daily, July 10).
The current Patriot customers now include the U.S., Bahrain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.