Saudi Arabia has issued a $129 million contract to Thales (which used to be Thomson-CSF) to upgrade the Crotale air-defense vehicles sold to the Saudis in 1985. Fewer than half of the 300 AMX-30s in the Saudi military are still operational, and some of them may be used to replace worn out chassis mounting Crotale launchers. The Saudis are negotiating to sell 30 AMX-30s each to Tunisia and Lebanon.--Stephen V Cole