Pentagon to send radar, Patriot missiles to bolster Saudi defenses

The Pentagon said on Thursday it plans to send four radar systems, a battery of Patriot missiles and about two hundred support personnel to bolster Saudi Arabia's defenses after the largest-ever attack on the kingdom's oil facilities this month.

The deployment details clarify the Pentagon's Friday announcement about U.S. plans to deploy more forces to Saudi Arabia after the Sept. 14 attack on the world's biggest crude oil processing facility, which Washington has blamed on Iran.

In a statement, the U.S. military said it was also putting additional capabilities on "prepare to deploy orders," meaning they could be mobilized more quickly in a crisis. These include two additional Patriot missile batteries and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD.

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