US approves possible $35 mln deal for Lebanon army: Pentagon

The US approved on Tuesday the possible sale of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) to Lebanon, a deal worth close to $35 million.

Lebanon had initially requested 50 HMMWVs but has since requested an additional 90, bringing the total to 140. The deal is worth an estimated $34.5 million, the Pentagon said.

Other parts in the deal include multiband handheld radios, Global Positioning System receivers, Quicklook electronic counter-countermeasures waveforms, training and logistics support services.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that continues to be an important force for political and economic stability in the Middle East,” the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon added that the sale would provide the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with a highly mobile, light combat vehicle capability to enable the LAF to “rapidly engage and defeat perimeter security threats and readily employ counter- and anti-terrorism measures.”

It will also “afford additional military-to-military tactics and operational training among the US Army’s and Lebanon’s leadership and soldiers.”

Less than two weeks ago, the State Department also approved the potential sale of Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTVs) to Lebanon, a deal worth just over $90 million that the Pentagon also said would strengthen the LAF’s counterterrorism capabilities.

It also marks the fourth military support package announced by the Trump administration in recent months. In September, President Donald Trump approved a rare presidential drawdown of $14.2 million for the LAF, followed in October by a $240 million package for both the LAF and the Internal Security Forces (ISF). The Pentagon said the PDA would help “build the capability and capacity of the LAF to dismantle weapons caches and military infrastructure of non-state groups, including Hezbollah.”