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The US State Department has signed off on selling Kuwait nearly $2 billion in counter-drone systems.

Getting into it: Announced last weekend, the roughly $1.98 billion Foreign Military Sale would supply Kuwait with counter-unmanned aerial systems built by Anduril, electronic-warfare gear, surveillance towers and command software meant to give the country both electronic and kinetic means to knock down hostile drones. The State Department framed the deal as advancing US foreign policy by improving the security of “a major non-NATO ally,” while offering the standard assurance that it “will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”

The standout in the package is Anduril’s Roadrunner, a reusable interceptor that can fly itself back and land when it doesn’t engage incoming targets. This makes it far more cost-effective than other interceptors, which can only be used once.

The timing was no accident, coming just days after a wave of Iranian attacks on Kuwait. On June 3, one of dozens of Shahed-136 drones slipped past defenses and struck Kuwait International Airport, setting off a large explosion that killed one person (an Indian national) and injured more than 60. Iran denied responsibility, blaming “an error in the American Patriot systems.”

Days later, its Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, most of which were intercepted.

This all comes as Kuwait has engaged hundreds of ballistic missiles and nearly 900 drones since the conflict with Iran kicked off.