Kuwait announced Sunday said it planned to buy an unspecified number of US-made F-18 warplanes and Apache combat helicopters.
"The Kuwaiti defence ministry has taken initial steps for the acquisition of F-18 and Apache helicopters", Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said, without giving details about the number of aircraft required.
Kuwait already has about 30 F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighters but no Apaches, according to specialist websites.
"We are determined to modernise the weapons and equipment in the possession of the armed forces to strengthen our defence capabilities," Sheikh Sabah said on a tour of military facilities on the Eid el-Fitr feast marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Kuwait has a defence agreement with the United States, signed after a US-led coalition ended Iraq's seven-month occupation of the emirate in the 1991 Gulf War.
More than 3,000 US troops are permanently based in Kuwait. (AFP, Kuwait)
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