• India has sought acquisition of up to 216 Excalibur projectiles.
• New Delhi also wants to acquire 100 units of the Javelin system.
• India already uses Excalibur artillery ammunition in its M-777 guns.

NEW DELHI: The US State Department has approved the sale of Javelin anti-tank missile system and Excalibur guided artillery munitions worth $93 million to India, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said on Wednesday.

The purchase of US defence equipment is India’s first under Washington’s foreign military sales programme since ties soured in August after President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.

It follows a re-order this month of fighter jet engines made by General Electric to power more of India’s home-produced Tejas combat aircraft.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defence partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions,” the DSCA said in a statement.

The Indian government had requested to buy up to 216 Excalibur tactical projectiles and 100 units of the Javelin system, the DSCA said. India already uses the Excalibur artillery ammunition in its M-777 Howitzer guns.

The principal contractors for the sales will be RTX Corp for the Excalibur projectiles and its joint venture with Lockheed Martin for the Javelin systems, the DSCA said.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would work to help end the war in Sudan after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to get involved in the matter.

“We’ve already started working on that,” Trump said at a Saudi investment conference a day after he met with Saudi Arabia’s ruler at the White House.

Trump told the gathering, which was attended by bin Salman and his delegation, that his administration began working on the issue half an hour after the crown prince requested Tuesday’s meeting.

The US will work with the Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries to end atrocities in the region and stabilise Sudan, Trump later said in a social media post.

The Sudan conflict erupted in 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It has caused ethnically charged bloodletting, widespread destruction and mass displacement, drawing in foreign powers and threatening to split Sudan.

The Saudi crown prince believes Trump’s direct pressure is needed to break a logjam in talks to end more than two and a half years of war, pointing to his work to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza last month, five people familiar with the matter said.

The Saudi ruler appeared to appeal to the US president’s view of himself as a peacemaker, according to Trump’s account.

“He mentioned Sudan yesterday, and he said, ‘Sir, you’re talking about a lot of wars, but there’s a place on Earth called Sudan, and it’s horrible what’s happening,'” Trump said.

For Saudi Arabia, a resolution to the conflict is linked to national security, given hundreds of miles of Sudanese coastline lying opposite the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

“Tremendous atrocities are taking place in Sudan,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “It has become the most violent place on Earth and, likewise, the single biggest Humanitarian Crisis. Food, doctors, and everything else are desperately needed.”

• British minister says lasers at RAF pilots “deeply dangerous”.
• John Healey says Britain poised to react to Yantar’s move.
• Russian embassy denies threat, rejects UK accusations.
  

LONDON: British defence minister John Healey said on Wednesday that “military options” are ready should the Russian spy ship Yantar become a threat after it directed lasers at British pilots sent to monitor it.

Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force routinely shadow potential threats to national security, and such missions to monitor Russian vessels and submarines have become more frequent since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Healey said directing lasers at RAF pilots was “deeply dangerous” and Britain was poised to react depending on the Yantar’s next move.

“We have military options ready should the Yantar change course,” Healey said.

Responding to what it described as “endless accusations”, the Russian embassy in London said: “Our country’s actions do not affect the interests of the United Kingdom and are not aimed at undermining its security.

“We are not interested in British underwater communications,” it said, urging the British side to refrain from destructive steps that exacerbate the crisis phenomena on the European continent.”

The Yantar, designed for intelligence gathering and mapping undersea cables, is currently on the edge of British waters, north of Scotland, Healey said.

He added, “This is the first time we’ve had this action from Yantar directed against the British RAF. We take it extremely seriously.”

“I have changed the navy’s rules of engagement so that we can follow more closely, monitor more closely, the activities of the Yantar when it’s in our wider waters.”