MADRID — Shipbuilders are blocking roads in southern Spain amid fears that Saudi Arabia could scrap a $2.1 billion-purchase of warships in retaliation to a move by Madrid to halt a shipment of bombs to Riyadh.
The new center-left Spanish government said earlier this week that it was not planning to deliver the 400 laser-guided precision bombs over worries they may be used to target civilians in Yemen.
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As a longtime commercial ally of Saudi Arabia Spain is the fourth-largest provider of military equipment and weapons to the Gulf state.
By Aritz Parra, The Associated Press
Formal cancellation of the order, which dates back to 2015, is expected at a ministers meeting this month.
Saudi diplomats in Madrid declined to comment on whether that could lead to Riyadh canceling a July deal to buy five navy corvettes from Spanish company Navantia.
Jesus Peralta, a Navantia workers union leader, says 6,000 direct jobs over 4-1/2 years could be at stake.
Biden said he wanted the balloon downed on Wednesday, but was advised the best time for the operation would be when it was over water.
The Pulse program took five months to pull together. Such a pace, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said, was an “extraordinary feat."
China claims balloon is weather research “airship” that blew off course.
Fifth-generation wireless tech promises faster speeds and the ability to accommodate more and more-advanced devices — a windfall for defense.
The capability, which will allow the system to decommission its 1970s-era C2 system, was supposed to be delivered at the end of last year.
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