US to sell 12 attack helicopters to Australia

The US government has decided to sell 12 attack helicopters and an electronic warfare plane to Australia for more than a billion dollars, the State Department said Friday.

Australia, which recently signed a strategic defense alliance with the United States and Britain as a way to counter a rising China, had asked to acquire 12 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and accompanying equipment to the tune of 985 million dollars.

President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it decided to go ahead with this sale, the State Department said.