WASHINGTON — The US State Department said on Friday it was approving military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

The announcements came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.

Friday’s announcements by the State Department included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defense replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) — a laser-guided weapons kit — costing $992.4 million.

They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5 billion and to Israel of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems costing $992.4 million.

The State Department approved a sale to the UAE of APKWS for $147.6 million.

The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel, and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department........

© The Times of Israel