Why Is Bahrain Buying $2.2 Billion in Main Battle Tanks From General Dynamics?
Located in the Persian Gulf, offshore and roughly equidistant from both Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Bahrain (population 1.6 million) is a tiny island, approximately one-quarter the size of Rhode Island. And the most important detail from all of that is: Bahrain is an island.
So why is Bahrain wanting to buy 50 main battle tanks from General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)?
I admit that's the first question that leapt to mind after learning last week that the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (the foreign arms sales division of the Pentagon) has notified Congress of a Bahraini request to buy 50 Abrams tanks, along with 28 assorted support vehicles (tank recovery vehicles, breacher vehicles, and bridge-layers). And I have to say that DSCA's announcement is pretty silent on that point -- aside from blandly observing that the tanks "will improve Bahrain's capability to meet current and future threats."
Source Fool.com