The U.S. state department had approved the sale of the THAAD anti-missile defense system to Saudi Arabia. The deal is estimated at $15 bn. A Pentagon spokesperson cited the Iran as one of the threats that Saudi Arabia has do deal with in the region.

Saudi Arabia can now purchase 44 THAAD launchers and 360 missiles, as well as fire control stations and radars.

Considering the quantity and virulence of the groups taking part in the Syrian war, which has been going on uninterruptedly for six years, in principle there are two possible scenarios.

 An unstable peace that will disrupt the Syrian political and territorial system - as is currently happening in the Lebanon - or a long war of attrition, as in the Balkans of the 1990s or currently in Ukraine or the Horn of Africa.

 A "long war" hiding the strategic and geopolitical void of those who have organized it.

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey has crashed in Syria last week, according to a report in the Aviationist. 

Two servicemen were injured in the crash; their conditions are not life-threatening

The cause of the incident has not been unveiled, according to the website, but it was not caused by enemy activity, an official said on the condition of anonymity. The Osprey was heavily damaged in what has been described as a “hard landing” and could not be salvaged: for this reason, it was destroyed by the troops

One of the biggest land exhibitions in the world will open next week in the U.S.. AUSA 2017 will be visited by thousands of visitors and delegations from countries around the world. As always the Israeli companies that are participating will be a focus of interest with their advanced solutions for the ground forces. Here are some of the participating Israeli companies:

Elbit Systems of America, LLC, will highlight its portfolio of advanced capabilities and solutions for the United States Army during the Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA) annual meeting and exposition. This year’s event will take place October 9-11, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., booth 2003.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will present a variety of solutions to the ground forces at AUSA. The exhibition will be led by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Gadi Shamni, Executive VP of Land Systems. The systems that will be presented will focus on the company's perception of the future battlefield, such as power protection, precision munitions, solutions for asymmetric warfare and more.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Russian government-backed hackers stole U.S. secrets on penetrating foreign computer networks and protecting against cyber attacks after a hacking into the home computer of an NSA contractor put highly classified information there. According to unidentified sources, the hacking occurred in 2015.

Mantaro Networks, Inc. and Beeper Communications Israel have formally received funding from The BIRD Foundation, to support their development of Unmanned Search and Rescue Systems (USRS.) The joint project aims to fill in “capability gaps” for first responders, as identified by Homeland Security and supported by the National Technology Plan for Emergency Response to Catastrophic Incidents.  Project USRS has been awarded $900K in funding over an 18 month time-frame.

AUSA 2017: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems unveils the new Samson Dual M230LF RWS.

With over 5,400 systems delivered to more than 25 countries worldwide, Rafael’s RWSs have been integrated with a wide variety of weapons (7.62 mm up to 40 mm) and sensors, and are adapted to all types of ground vehicles and naval platforms. Rafael's Samson Remote-Controlled Weapon Stations are combat-proven in diverse theatres of operation and climatic regions around the globe.

– Cyberbit, provider of cybersecurity products enabling detection, response and training across IT and OT systems, today announced the opening of a new office in Munich, Germany. Cyberbit opens its fourth global office to support its rapidly-growing business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.