Kuwait Determined to Buy U.S. Howitzers

The Kuwaiti government said on Monday that it was determined to buy the U.S.-made Paladin howitzers, in spite of possible opposition from some parliament members.

"The Defense Ministry is still wishing and insisting on purchasing the American gun because the (Kuwaiti) Army needs it," Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah told Kuwait News Agency.

The government is backing the plan of the defense ministry, but "we cannot press ahead with the purchase without the parliament's approval," Sheikh Salem said.

The Public Fund Protection Committee at the National Assembly (parliament) has been studying, since last December, the purchase of the controversial Paladin howitzers in a deal estimated at some 400 million U.S. dollars.

The committee is to report to the parliament about the deal later this month.

Kuwait planned to equip three battalions with howitzers and has received offers from several big powers including the United States, which offered its M109 A6 Paladin howitzers. In his previous remarks, Sheikh Salem had stressed the Kuwaiti Army "is in dire need of the U.S.-made Paladin to fill the shortage suffered by the land forces."

But the purchase sparked controversy in Kuwait's last parliament, with some lawmakers strongly criticizing the government plan on the grounds that the U.S-made Paladin is outmoded and not compatible with the Kuwait armament system.

Defending the government decision to buy the U.S. guns, the Kuwaiti defense chief once said the competing guns lacked several technical details offered by the U.S., including the "possibility to modify it according to our needs."

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