By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of HIMARS rocket systems to Estonia in a deal valued at up to $500 million, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The sale comes as HIMARS systems donated by the United States and allies are being employed by Ukraine in its fight with Russia.
Stone, Mike (Reuters)3:57 PMEdited1The package would include up to six M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, munitions, support equipment, spares and technical support, the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale on Friday alongside two other foreign military sales.
The State Department also separately approved the potential sale of medium-range air-to-air missiles and related equipment to Norway in a deal valued at up to $950 million, and MK 54 Lightweight Torpedoes to South Korea for an estimated value of $130 million.
Despite approval by the State Department, the notification does not indicate that a contracts have been signed or that negotiations have concluded.
The Pentagon said Lockheed Martin Corp was the prime contractor for the HIMARS systems and Raytheon Technologies was the prime contractor for the up to 205 AIM-120 C-8 or D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missiles.
(Reporting by Tim Ahman and Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
