On Monday, 1 December 2025, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced two approvals related to logistical support and the provision of training for operators of various helicopter types used by the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF), with a combined value of up to USD 1 billion.
Photo: Tech. Sgt. H. H. Deffner, US Army
According to the first approval, the government in Riyadh requested authorization to acquire an aviation training services package for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Corps (RSLFAC) from the U.S. Army.
The requested package includes the following non-MDE (Major Defense Equipment) elements: initial and advanced helicopter operation and maintenance training for RSLFAC personnel under the supervision of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). The training will be conducted by U.S. Army instructors on AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters, UH-72A Lakota and UH-60L/M Black Hawk multirole helicopters. The estimated total cost of the package is 500 million USD.
The second approval concerns the purchase of spare and repair parts under the Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement (CLSSA) via the Foreign Military Sales Order (FMSO) II process.
The procurement covers multirole UH-60A/L/M Black Hawk helicopters, AH-64A/D/E Apache attack helicopters, CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters, Sikorsky S-333 light helicopters (formerly Schweizer 333), and OH-58D Kiowa reconnaissance/attack helicopters operated by the RSLFAC, as well as other associated logistics and program-support elements. The estimated total cost of this package is also 500 million USD.
It is noteworthy that the training list for Saudi personnel includes UH-72A Lakota helicopters (Eurocopter UH-145 derived from the H145), which are not currently in RSLFAC service, suggesting that their acquisition is planned but has not yet been officially announced.
The packages were announced following the visits of U.S. President Donald Trump to Riyadh on 13 May of this year, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington on 18 November, during which multibillion-dollar arms packages for the Kingdom were unveiled.
As reported at the time, as of May this year Saudi Arabia remained the largest U.S. partner in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, with active cases valued at over 129 billion USD.
In just the past several months, the U.S. Department of State has approved the export of the following weapon systems and military equipment to Saudi Arabia:
- 2 May 2025: sale of 1,000 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) medium-range air-to-air missiles for up to 3.5 billion USD.
- 20 March 2025: sale of 2,000 WGU-59/B APKWS II (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II) laser guidance kits for up to 100 million USD.
- 3 January 2025: sale of 20 Mark 54 MAKO Mod 0 lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes (324 mm) for up to 78.5 million USD.
- 24 October 2024: sale of 1,000 BGM-71 TOW 2A/2B heavy anti-tank guided missiles for up to 440 million USD.
- 11 October 2024: sale of 220 AIM-9X Tactical Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles for up to 251.8 million USD, 2,500 AGM-114R3 Hellfire II anti-tank guided missiles for 655 million USD, and 10,000 rounds of M456 105 mm HEAT ammunition for up to 139 million USD.
- 22 December 2023: launch of a military pilot and personnel training program for the Royal Saudi Air Force and other Saudi armed forces branches, valued at up to 1 billion USD.
- 21 September 2023: sale of a support and spare-parts package for tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, and U.S.-made weapon systems for up to 500 million USD.
