The US State Department announced on Wednesday the approval of a proposed $1.96bn foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia, centred on up to 20,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS-II) guidance kits — split evenly between air-to-air and air-to-ground variants — along with launchers, warheads, rocket motors and logistics support. A separate $484m sustainment package for Kuwait’s C-17 transport fleet was cleared the same day. The principal contractor for the Saudi sale is BAE Systems of Nashua, New Hampshire.

According to the State Department, the sale supports US foreign policy and national security by bolstering the defences of a “Major non-NATO Ally” that it describes as a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf. The department stated the package would strengthen Saudi Arabia’s ability to deter current and future threats, improve homeland defence and enhance interoperability with US, regional and NATO forces, while having no adverse impact on American defence readiness.

The approvals land at a moment of acute regional escalation. The United States has intensified strikes on Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, while Tehran has launched retaliatory attacks on American bases in the region, including in Kuwait. On Monday, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement fired missiles at Abha international airport in southern Saudi Arabia, blaming Riyadh for an earlier strike on Sanaa airport that diverted a flight returning from the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader. The exchange has revived active hostilities along the Saudi-Yemeni border after a period of relative calm.

Viewed from Moscow, the sale marks a further step in the normalisation of US-Saudi defence ties that had frayed after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Biden administration’s 2021 restrictions on offensive arms transfers. Russian defence analysts note that Washington’s policy shift, which began in 2022 as Riyadh pursued a Yemen settlement, is also shaped by the strategic imperative to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the Middle East and to support Saudi ambitions for civilian nuclear energy. Saudi Arabia, traditionally the largest buyer of American weapons, is seeking to modernise its air defences and expand domestic production capabilities, making it a priority market for Western defence contractors. The proposed sale now enters a congressional review period, during which lawmakers may raise objections, though the deepening crisis is expected to sustain bipartisan support for Gulf security assistance.