Washington: After spending billions of dollars during the Iran conflict, the United States appears to have found a way to recover much of its wartime expenses — by selling advanced weapons systems to nervous Gulf allies increasingly worried about regional security.
According to reports, the Donald Trump administration has approved emergency arms sales worth nearly 25.8 billion dollars to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Israel. The package mainly includes Patriot air defence systems and interceptor missiles designed to counter drones and ballistic missile attacks similar to those witnessed during the recent Iran war.
The timing of the deal has drawn global attention because the amount closely matches the estimated military expenditure incurred by Washington during the conflict. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly informed lawmakers that America had already spent around 25 billion dollars by April under “Operation Epic Fury”, largely on missiles, military deployments and maintenance of defence systems.
The war severely depleted American missile inventories. Reports claimed large numbers of THAAD interceptors, Patriot missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles were used during operations against Iran and in defending Gulf allies from retaliatory drone and missile attacks.
Under the new agreements, the UAE alone could receive 600 PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles, while Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain are also set to receive hundreds of advanced defence systems.
However, analysts say deliveries may take years because American defence manufacturers are already struggling to meet existing global demand.
The developments highlight how geopolitical conflicts are increasingly reshaping the global arms market. With Gulf nations fearing future escalation in the region, Washington appears to have transformed a costly military campaign into a major strategic and financial opportunity.