Trump administration approves $2.3B helicopter deal for Egypt, $556M in vehicles for UAE

The State Department has approved two potential military equipment sales that could net the United States a combined $2.8 billion, officials announced Thursday.

The first deal, to refurbish 43 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, has an estimated cost of $2.3 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced.

The second, a $556 million potential sale with the United Arab Emirates, would be for 4,569 excess Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, according to a separate release.

The DSCA notified Congress of the potential sales Thursday.

With the sale to Egypt, Boeing and Lockheed Martin would revamp the Apache helicopters in a move to “support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle East.”

Egypt intends to use helicopters “to modernize its armed forces to address the shared U.S.-Egyptian interest in countering terrorist activities emanating from the Sinai Peninsula, which threaten Egyptian and Israeli security and undermine regional stability,” DSCA states.

The vehicles to the UAE, meanwhile, would allow the tiny nation to buy MRAPs no longer in use by the U.S. Army.

The UAE intends to use the vehicles to “increase force protection, to conduct humanitarian assistance operations, and to protect critical infrastructure.”