The US State Department approved on Wednesday the selling of AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II Missiles to Egypt in addition to training and logistical support worth some $57 million, according to a press release.
The statement added that the selling of the weapons supports the US goal of improving stability and economic progress in the Middle East by increasing the security of an ally in the region.
Though Egypt has already received the F and K variety of missiles, this would be the first transfer of the R type. The main contractor supplying the missiles would be the US weapons-maker Lockheed Martin based in Orlando, Florida.
The move, along with the recent decision by the Obama administration to resume annual aid to Egypt, indicates the tension with Egypt is slowly dissolving following moves made by the new government to follow a democratic path.
Tension grew between the two governments after Egypt's military, led by current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted the first democratic president Mohamed Morsi, who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood, amid popular protests against his year of failed rule. The US decided to reevaluate aid and canceled joint military operations after the violent dispersal pro-Morsi protesters at the Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda sit-ins that killed almost 800 people, according to the Egyptian Health Ministry.
