Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to his Saudi counterpart Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Gulf Cooperation Council Defense Ministerial in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2014.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel listens to his Saudi counterpart Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Gulf Cooperation Council Defense Ministerial in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2014. DoD Photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Hagel Wants Gulf States to Combine Missile Defense Systems

It’s a tall order, but uniting air and missile defense from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could deter an attack from Iran. By Rachel Oswald

The U.S. defense chief on Wednesday used a trip to the Persian Gulf to prod the region's countries to develop an integrated antimissile plan.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to attend a ministerial of the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Defense Dialogue. He encouraged the council to designate a quarterly meeting hosted by the Air Force component of U.S. Central Command -- the Air and Air Defense Chiefs Conference --  as "the GCC's primary military forum for regional air and missile defense policy," according to a transcript of his introductory remarks.

In subsequent comments to the press, Hagel said an agreement was reached between senior Pentagon officials and the six Arab GCC countries "to develop the specific proposals I outlined today," including the one on furthering missile defense discussions.

The Air and Air Defense Chiefs Conference meets several times a year and offers a forum for discussing antimissile matters at the operational level, according to a U.S. defense official who did not have authorization to be identified.

The official said the main accomplishment from the Jeddah meeting was that the conference would be reinvigorated after not having been convened for some time. "We did get agreement to get the [GCC countries' deputy ministers] to meet within the next six months [in Washington] and then restart the GCC ministerial as a regular forum for discussing these issues and moving forward on them."

The United States is encouraging the six Council nations -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- to agree to connect their individual missile defense assets in order to build a regional ballistic missile shield as a means of deterring attacks from Iran. Progress on this front has been slow, however, as the Arab Gulf countries are traditionally protective of their right to make independent defense decisions, choosing instead to rely on bilateral antimissile agreements struck with the United States.

Late last year, the Obama administration proposed developing a mechanism that would allow Washington to export defense systems to the Gulf Cooperation Council as a block. Thus far, the United States has sold weapons to Gulf countries on an individual basis.

Hagel touched on that idea again at Jeddah: "I am also suggesting that the GCC develop a Foreign Military Sales case to consult with U.S. trainers and technical experts. These experts could help advance regional missile defense priorities by accelerating the GCC's progress toward greater interoperability and more sophisticated multinational force development."

The secretary said it would be left up to members countries to "assemble this case and determine the appropriate member contributions."

Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Frank Rose, deputy assistant secretary of State for space and defense policy, said that the U.S. willingness to designate the Gulf Cooperation Council as eligible for foreign military sales demonstrated "our ultimate commitment to see the Gulf become a stronger, more capable partner."

In a speech at the Capitol Hill Club, Rose noted that individual Gulf states have already shown their willingness to acquire U.S. antimissile systems. "These procurements demonstrate our GCC partners' determination to provide for their own defense, and when combined with our regional [ballistic missile defense] capabilities, represent a significant contribution to regional stability at a time when our own defense spending is under fiscal pressure."

The United Arab Emirates has signed a contract to purchase two U.S-manufactured Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, while both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have inked deals to enhance their existing Patriot batteries to handle the more-capable PAC-3 missile interceptor.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.