Russia, Saudi Arabia Sign $3 billion Arms Deal, Includes S-400

Russia has agreed to sell $3 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, according to a deal signed during King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud’s first state visit to Moscow, from October 5-7.

“Saudi Arabia is a traditional U.S. partner in the Arab region, and is also one of the largest buyers of U.S. arms," said Middle East expert Alexey Khlebnikov.

"The undoubted priority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of arms procurement was revealed with the latest agreements on purchase of American weapons worth more than $ 100 billion signed between the Kingdom and the U.S. during Trump's visit to Riyadh in May this year. However, this does not exclude the interest of Riyadh in Russian weapons."

The deal calls for the construction of a plant inside Saudi Arabia where Kalashnikov AK-103 rifles and various types of ammunition will be produced. The project will be led by Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Russian Rosoboronexport State Corporation.

The deal also allows for Saudi Arabia to purchase units of the S-400 Triumf, a long-range anti-missile system produced by Russia and designed in the 1990s. Also known as SA-21, or Glower, the system can deploy surface-to-air missiles between ranges of 40 km (25 mi) and 400 km (249 mi). The deal would also include the sale of anti-tank rockets, assault rifles and grenade launchers to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is not the first Gulf country to express interest in the S-400. Just one week after King Salman’s visit, news reports surfaced that Russia was also in discussions with Bahrain, to supply it with the same system. Turkey has agreed the purchase of the system for $2.5 billion, and Egypt has also shown interest.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 21 percent of global arms sales in 2016 were Russian, worth roughly $6.4 billion and making it the world’s second-largest arms exporter.