US approves $7 billion more in weapons for UAE, WSJ reports

March 19 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has approved about $7 billion in weapons for the United Arab Emirates that the State Department is not required to announce to the public under rules governing U.S. arms exports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

That is in addition to arms sales to three Middle East countries worth more than $16.5 billion announced earlier on Thursday, the Journal said.

The unannounced deals include the sale of Patriot PAC-3 Missiles worth about $5.6 billion and CH-47 Chinook helicopters costing about $1.32 billion to the UAE, the Journal said, citing U.S. officials, adding that those sales were not announced publicly because they expanded previously agreed arms deals.