187. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Saudi Arabia1
217223. For the Ambassador. Subject: Message to King Khalid on Arms Sales.
1. You should pass the following message from the President to King Khalid:
2. Begin text:
Quote Your Majesty: I know that Ambassador Porter has mentioned to Your Majesty’s government the intense political pressure which the administration has encountered with regard to the proposed sale to Saudi Arabia of Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and also in connection with the Maverick air-to-ground missile. I want Your Majesty to know that, although demands were made for very steep cuts in both programs, I have decided to submit to the Congress proposals for the sale of 850 Sidewinders and 650 Mavericks at this time.
In reaching my decisions, I gave highest priority to preserving programs that are already under way, rather than deferring some of them because of congressional opposition. I also wanted to make sure that the sale of the Maverick should correspond with the receipt by your government of F–5 aircraft for which this system is designed. Thus, together with the sale of one thousand Maverick missiles already contracted for, the sale of an additional 650 Mavericks would permit delivery of approximately two-thirds of your currently estimated requirement of 2,500 of such missiles at a point in time at which your government will have received two-thirds of the F–5 aircraft that will eventually be capable of delivery of this system. I have made the foregoing clear to the Congress in submitting the proposed sale of Mavericks.
In connection with the proposed sale of 850 additional Sidewinder missiles, I felt that this was the minimum number required to meet your government’s training requirements and a modest war reserve stock.
In addition to the foregoing proposed sales, I am submitting proposals for the sale of additional equipment for which no reductions are being made. The latter category includes such items as TOW launch [Page 621] ers and missiles, armored personnel carriers, Vulcan antiaircraft guns, and additional F–5 aircraft, as well as pending construction and National Guard programs.
Our proposed sales must lie before the Congress for thirty calendar days and I do not yet know what the final reaction of the Congress to the controversial items will be. Nevertheless, I want to assure Your Majesty that every effort will be made to obtain additional quantities of Sidewinders and Mavericks in the future, consistent with our commitments to Your Majesty’s government.
I hope that the actions which I have taken in this election year will meet with your understanding. The close relationship which has been developed between the United States Government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a matter of historic significance in view of the immense contributions our two nations can jointly make to world peace and prosperity. I remain personally committed to those ties and look forward very much to continued cooperation between our two governments. Unquote. End text.
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Summary: President Ford transmitted a letter to King Khalid, explaining the reductions in the number of Sidewinder and Maverick missiles to be sold to Saudi Arabia.
Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Presidential Country Files for the Middle East and South Asia, Box 29, Saudi Arabia—State Department Telegrams, From SecState-Nodis (6). Secret; Immediate; Nodis. Drafted by Adolph Dubs (NEA); cleared by Eagleburger, Oakley, and in S/S; approved by Robinson. See also Document 185.
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