US to send jets, destroyer to UAE in light of war on Yemen
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The Sanaa government forces retaliating against the aggressors in the UAE sparked concerns from Washington, making it want to bolster its support of its Gulf ally through providing various heavy military equipment.
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Cole
The United States will be sending advanced fighter jets and a guided-missile destroyer to the UAE as part of its attempts to bolster the countries of the Saudi-led coalition's defense in the face of the Sana'a government forces.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has already told Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about Washington's intention to increase its military support to the UAE, the Wall Street Journal said, as security concerns mount in light of Yemeni retaliation against the Saudi-led coalition's massacres in Yemen.
The United States intends to deploy its guided-missile destroyer Cole to cooperate with the UAE Navy, the WSJ's report said.
The United States will also be providing Abu Dhabi with early-warning intelligence to allow the UAE to identify launch sites within Yemen that could "pose a threat" to the country's security.
Yemen has been bearing the brunt of the Saudi-UAE aspirations to dominion in the region, and it is standing in the face of these aspirations that undermine Yemeni sovereignty through backing the Hadi government forces in the face of the Sanaa government forces.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been providing aid to the Hadi government forces in Yemen, conducting air, land, and maritime operations against Sanaa, and imposing a suffocating blockade that killed thousands and pushed thousands of others to the brink of famine and death within Yemen.
Read: US Arms in Saudi's Pool of Blood: The Yemeni Massacre
The coalition is backed by the United States as it serves its own regional interests as well. Saudi military purchases from US sources and firms are estimated at $63 billion since its aggression on Yemen.
Additionally, the UAE had signed a multi-billion deal for Lockheed Martin's Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system.
The UAE previously announced it would end its participation in the military operations in Yemen, but it has left military personnel at bases at Yemen's ports and continued providing support for the coalition waging the war against Yemen.
The UAE also took part in coalition-led operations against the Sanaa government forces in several provinces and governorates that helped the Hadi forces recapture some areas, but the Yemeni army and popular committees retook several positions in Shabwa.
A large number of ballistic missiles and drones targeted sites in Abu Dhabi and southern Saudi Arabia, with two missiles launched at the UAE.
The strikes were in retaliation to the coalition committing several massacres in Yemen, including one in Sanaa, another in Saada, and a third in Al-Hudaydah.
Read: Indigenous Yemeni drones pose a challenge for UAE
The Sanaa government forces launched three operations all with the codename Operation Yemen Hurricane, inflicting heavy losses against Saudi and the UAE and frightening the entire region all the way to the Israeli occupation.
