The North African country of Tunisia is seeking to improve its security capabilities with help from the United States military.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said equipment and support sought by Tunisia is comprised of a dozen UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in standard configuration but with unique and customized equipment.
The helicopters would be acquired under a package Foreign Military Sales deal already approved by the U.S. State Department and worth about $700 million.
"The proposed sale will improve Tunisia's capability to deter regional threats and strengthen its homeland defense, as well as support counter-terrorism operations," the agency said it a required notification to Congress. "The sale of these UH-60 helicopters will bolster Tunisia's ability to provide border patrol, rapid reaction, and field expedient medical evacuation for its air and ground forces in counter-terrorism and border security operations."
Included in the sales deal would be 30 T700-GE-701D engines, embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigation Systems, machine guns, integration of precision guided rocket system capability, 9,100 2.75 Hydra Rockets, 100 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, Hellfire missile Pods, electro-optical infrared laser designators, various radars and warning systems and communications systems.
Aircraft warranty, ammunition, air worthiness support, facility construction, spare and repair parts, and support equipment would also be included in the deal.
Sikorsky Aircraft and General Electric Aircraft would be the principal contractors.
Two Tunisian soldiers killed by 'terrorists': ministry
Tunis (AFP) July 26, 2014 –
Two Tunisian soldiers were killed and four wounded on Saturday in a gunfight with "terrorists" several kilometres (miles) from the border with Algeria, the defence ministry told AFP.
"There was an exchange of fire between a terrorist group and a military patrol at Ghar al-Tine, four kilometres from the Tunisian-Algerian border. Two of our soldiers were martyred and four were wounded," ministry spokesman Lamjed Hamami said.
He added that the operation was still under way and that the toll was provisional. Hamami was unable to say who the attackers were.
On July 16, suspected jihadists attacked twin army posts in the remote Mount Chaambi region near the Algerian border, killing 15 soldiers in the worst attack in the Tunisian army's history.
Another 18 soldiers were wounded and one attacker was killed.
The assailants took the soldiers by surprise as they were breaking their day-long Ramadan fast, with authorities saying up to 60 "terrorists" — a reference to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists — took part in the attack with machineguns, rocket launchers and grenades.
The attack came as the government presses a crackdown on radical Islamists, sparking protests in several cities by residents fed up with violence linked to jihadists.
