AMMAN — The
US Department of Defense announced a new contract to develop an Azraq air base,
worth up to $14.6 million, according to Ammon News. The US military is
currently spending more than $250 million on projects at an air base in Jordan,
according to the defense department.
اضافة اعلان
The new contract will fund the building of an air traffic control tower
in Azraq, which is the seventh awarded project by the US Army Corps of
Engineers since 2017, of which $265 million will be channeled to repair
runways, drill water wells, and build dorms that can house up to 280 people.
The estimated completion date of the project will be June 18, 2024.
The announcement
did not mention the base’s name, but the defense department identified the
headquarters of its 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing air combat command as Muwaffaq
Salti Air Base in Azraq.
There are
currently around 3,000 US soldiers in Jordan, according to the Congressional
Research Service report.
The US military
reportedly moved supplies from three bases in Qatar to Jordan last summer,
while the US Navy tested robotic surveillance boats at the Aqaba Naval Base
last winter, and the Marines completed their first joint training this spring.
Last February, the
US Air Force appointed Brig. Gen. Christopher Sage to lead the 332nd Air Expeditionary
Wing air combat at the air base. US budget documents said in 2017 that the US
Air Force requested renovations to the base because it lacked sufficient ramp
space for combat missions, and deemed the living quarters unsafe.
Last March,
Washington announced economic and security aid to Jordan for the year 2023,
amounting to $1.45 million, and last February the US announced military aid
worth $4.2 billion to Jordan.
Furthermore, the
US and Jordan signed a security agreement in January of last year.
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