Biden Administration Pauses $760 Million Raytheon and Boeing Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Over Yemen

On February 4, 2021, the Biden administration announced it was pausing indefinitely two major precision-guided munitions sales to Saudi Arabia worth approximately $760 million—a $478 million Raytheon contract for 7,500 Paveway “smart” bombs and a $290 million Boeing contract for 3,000 Small Diameter Bomb I munitions. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated the pause was part of a broader policy shift to end US support for Saudi “offensive operations” in Yemen, with President Biden declaring “We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.” The Raytheon Paveway contract had been approved by the Trump administration in December 2020 during its final weeks, representing the same weapon type documented in multiple Yemen civilian-casualty incidents including the 2016 funeral hall massacre and the 2018 school bus attack. The pause represented the most significant US action restricting Saudi arms access due to Yemen war crimes, though critics noted it addressed only specific offensive weapons while leaving billions in other arms sales intact.

Raytheon Had Anticipated Blockage

Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes had already informed investors in January 2021 that the company anticipated Biden would block the $519 million Paveway sale (the figure varied between $478-519 million in different sources), removing it from financial projections. Hayes stated that Raytheon did not expect “issues selling defensive weapons, like Patriot missile interceptors, and other types of arms in the region,” distinguishing between weapons Biden might block versus those expected to continue. This distinction revealed the limited scope of Biden’s Yemen policy shift—while specific weapons documented in civilian casualties faced restrictions, the broader US-Saudi military relationship and most arms sales would continue. For Raytheon, the Paveway pause represented a manageable revenue loss that would not affect the company’s overall Saudi business or Middle East growth projections. Hayes’s advance positioning with investors demonstrated that Raytheon’s political intelligence network—including former employees throughout the Pentagon and State Department—provided the company with early warning of policy shifts affecting its contracts.

Offensive vs. Defensive Weapons Distinction

The Biden administration’s distinction between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons drew criticism from arms control experts and progressive lawmakers, who noted the artificial nature of the categories. All weapons supported the Saudi military apparatus conducting Yemen operations, and supposedly “defensive” systems like Patriot missiles freed up Saudi resources and personnel for offensive operations. The Paveway pause addressed the most politically visible weapons—precision-guided bombs documented in specific atrocities—while leaving intact billions in other arms flows including training, spare parts, maintenance contracts, and the Patriot systems that represented Raytheon’s largest Saudi revenue source. Critics argued that true accountability for Yemen would require comprehensive arms embargo until the coalition ended its bombing campaign and blockade, not selective pauses on specific weapons categories. The policy shift suggested Biden sought political credit for restricting Saudi arms without fundamentally changing the military relationship or threatening defense contractor revenues from other weapon systems.

Return to “Standard Procedures” Not Embargo

The Biden administration emphasized that paused arms sales would return to “standard procedures” with appropriate legal reviews rather than being permanently cancelled or triggering comprehensive restrictions. This framing suggested that specific weapons transfers might eventually proceed once political attention to Yemen faded, not that fundamental policy had changed. Arms sales would undergo interagency review processes assessing civilian casualty risks as required by law—processes the Trump administration had bypassed through emergency declarations. However, returning to standard procedures did not guarantee sales would be blocked, only that proper review would occur. For Raytheon and Boeing, the pause represented temporary uncertainty rather than permanent loss: contracts might be delayed but could potentially proceed once reviews completed and if the Saudi coalition demonstrated improvements in civilian protection measures. The policy demonstrated the limits of Biden’s Yemen promises—campaign rhetoric about fundamentally reassessing the Saudi relationship translated into selective weapons pauses subject to future approval rather than comprehensive arms restrictions.

Significance

The Biden administration’s February 4, 2021 pause on $760 million in Raytheon and Boeing precision-guided munitions sales to Saudi Arabia represented the most significant US action restricting Saudi arms access due to Yemen war crimes, yet revealed the limited scope of accountability for defense contractors supplying weapons for atrocities. The Raytheon Paveway contract—for the same bomb type documented killing civilians at funerals, weddings, and school buses—faced indefinite pause after years of advocacy by human rights organizations and congressional critics. However, the pause addressed only specific “offensive” weapons while leaving intact the broader US-Saudi military relationship and billions in other arms sales including Raytheon’s lucrative Patriot missile contracts. Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes had already anticipated the blockage and assured investors it would not affect the company’s overall Middle East revenue or Saudi business, demonstrating how defense contractors insulated themselves from accountability through product diversification and political intelligence networks. The offensive versus defensive weapons distinction created an artificial boundary that allowed Biden to claim policy change without threatening core defense contractor interests—Paveway bombs that killed children faced restrictions, but Patriot systems that generated Raytheon’s largest Saudi revenue continued unimpeded. The pause’s framing as temporary pending reviews rather than permanent cancellation suggested weapons transfers might eventually proceed once political attention subsided, limiting pressure for fundamental Saudi policy changes. For Yemen civilians, the pause meant fewer precision-guided bombs would kill them in the near term, but the Saudi bombing campaign and blockade would continue with US support in the form of “defensive” weapons, intelligence sharing, and maintenance contracts. The Biden action demonstrated the limits of accountability within the military-industrial complex: documented use of specific weapons in war crimes could prompt selective restrictions, but could not overcome the structural economic and political power of defense contractors to preserve most arms sales relationships even with regimes committing atrocities.