ANDURIL's Roadrunner-M missle interceptor is "built for ground-based air defense that can rapidly launch, identify, intercept, and destroy" various aerial threats. (Brendon Smith / Breaking Defense)
BEIRUT — The US State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale of Anduril-made counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) to Kuwait, just a few days after Iranian drones attacked the Gulf state’s airport.
The deal comes with an estimated price tag of $1.98 billion. Quantities and dollar totals often shift during negotiations, and the announcement tees up an opportunity for lawmakers to block the deal within a 30-day period, though such a step is rare.
“The proposed sale will improve Kuwait’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing electronic and kinetic defeat capabilities against unmanned aerial systems,” the State Department said in a June 5 statement, adding it will improve “the security of a major non-NATO ally that has been an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”
The statement, posted on the State Department’s website, specifies that Kuwait requested “counter-unmanned aerial systems platforms Roadrunner-Munition and Anvil-Kinetic; launch boxes; lattice command and control; Long Range Sentry Tower with Fire Control; Long Range Sentry Tower-82 Mobile; Extended Range Sentry Towers; Maritime Sentry Towers; pulsar electromagnetic warfare; menace tactical operations centers; generators,” as well as personnel training and logistical support.
