By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale to Kuwait of Apache (NASDAQ:APA) helicopters and spare parts for the Patriot missile system in two separate deals that could have a value of $4.2 billion, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Kuwait's government had asked to buy eight AH-64E Apache Longbow Attack Helicopters and the upgrade of 16 of their current AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack Helicopters to the AH-64E configuration, the Pentagon said.
If the deal comes to fruition it could have a value of $4 billion for the helicopters and $200 million towards spare parts and training for their upgraded Patriot missile defense systems, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale on Tuesday. Despite the approval, the notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.
The Pentagon said the weapons makers associated with the sales were Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co, Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX).