“The Trump administration is racing to ship air defenses, radars and counter-drone systems to Arab states and U.S. forces in the Gulf, trying to beef up their ability to defend against persistent and accurate Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The movement of weapons and equipment -- including by fast-tracking $23 billion in future arms sales -- signals Pentagon concerns that Iran remains capable of devastating attacks as allied supplies of missile interceptors diminish and drones continue to slip through.
Three weeks into the war, the U.S. needs to shore up the region's defenses as it works to wear down Iran's capabilities and Israel hunts the country's leadership.
Arab governments repeatedly have asked for more defensive equipment without much success, said people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. and Israel by midweek had bombed more than 16,000 targets in Iran including missile launchers and drone depots.
While the volume of Iran's missile and drone attacks has dropped sharply since the start of the war, and Gulf states like the U.A.E. have said their defenses are adequate, Tehran has been maintaining its barrages at lower levels and continues to score direct hits on sensitive targets.
This past week Iran hit refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and damaged Qatar's Ras Laffan liquefied natural-gas facilities that will take years to repair.
Iran has taken out several U.S. and allied missile-defense radars and early warning systems, complicating detection of incoming attacks. Tehran is also getting help from Russia in targeting U.S. positions throughout the Gulf. Moscow has expanded its cooperation with Iran by sharing satellite imagery and drone technology to improve the effectiveness of its attacks.
The competition between air-defense systems and Iran's arsenal of drones and missiles is at the center of the war. Tehran, lacking a conventional air force or navy that can compete with the U.S. and Israel's advanced militaries, has adopted a strategy of escalating the fighting across a wide front of economic, as well as military targets to re-establish deterrence and create pressure to stop the war.
The U.S. and Israel are trying to attack Iranian drone and missile crews before they can get off their shots. Jets circling the skies above might give them only minutes to emerge from hiding and fire before risking getting hit.
The U.S. is flooding the region with counter-drone systems to blunt attacks from Iran's Shaheds, U.S. officials said. The Iranian drones have struck everything from expensive radar systems and embassy buildings to energy infrastructure, airports and commercial ships.
The systems sent to the Middle East include drones designed to take out other drones by crashing into them or detonating nearby, like the Merops drones that have been battle-tested in Ukraine. The U.S. is also deploying larger systems that launch interceptors from vehicles and aircraft to take out the drones, one of the officials said.
Some of the equipment is being shipped by the Pentagon to U.S. forces deployed in the region. The rest is part of $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan approved Thursday. The 11 separate arms deals together amount to one of the largest U.S. weapons transfers of the last decade.
The package includes a $1.2 billion sale of hundreds of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, to the U.A.E. that are intended for immediate delivery, according to U.S. officials familiar with the arrangement. The package for the U.A.E. also includes $5.6 billion in PAC-3 air defense missiles and $4.5 billion in Thaad radar equipment.
The U.A.E. Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country has advanced, multilayered air defenses capable of protecting the country.
The State Department said it was invoking an emergency rule under U.S. arms-control law that allows the administration to bypass the congressional review that usually governs major foreign arms deals.
Still, much of the equipment isn't available for immediate delivery.” [1]
1. World News: U.S. Rushes Missile, Drone Defenses to Gulf --- Shipments come as allies burn through stockpiles amid potent Iranian strikes. Malsin, Jared; Holliday, Shelby. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 21 Mar 2026: A5.
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