Jordan Receives Eight Black Hawk Helicopters

Jordan has taken delivery of eight Black Hawk helicopters on Thursday to fight against the growing threat of Islamic State militants.

Alice Wells, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan Alice G. Wells, was quoted as saying by AP during a handover ceremony that the delivery of the Black Hawks is part of ongoing military support for Jordan that also includes additional guns and surveillance equipment.

The US will deliver additional eight Black Hawks from next year under a military aid deal worth about $200 million.

“The United States is committed to standing with Jordan to face the threat posed by Daesh,” Alice told senior Jordanian army officers, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “As you employ these aircraft in the fight against Daesh, know that we will be standing right there next to you”.

Jordan is among a few Arab states that have taken part in a U.S.-led air campaign against the hard-line militant group.

In December 2014, a Jordanian pilot was captured by Islamic State after his F-16 crashed in territory it controlled in Syria and later burned alive.

Jordan had also requested MG-9 Reaper drones from the US earlier, but a U.S. official who requested anonymity was quoted as saying by Reuters that this not “an option right now”.

Wells added that the US has also expedited delivery of more than 26,000 rifles and machine guns, more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, hundreds of bombs, and 5,000 night vision devices to Jordan.