German Firm Close To Saudi Arms Deal

German defense industry company Rheinmetall is close to a deal with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on the shipment of a number of the company's highly-regarded Fox weapons detection tanks. The company, based in Düsseldorf, would not disclose the value of the deal because it had not yet been closed. Should the deal go through, a major hurdle will still be the Federal Security Council, which has the final say on all arms sales to foreign countries. The shipment of Fox tanks, which can detect nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, to the two Arab states could be made easier by the fact that the council already approved a similar sale to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom currently has 36 of the tanks. The United States, Israel and Great Britain have them as well.