22 April 2015

US sale of arms to Arab states increases

The sale of American military hardware is on the rise in the Middle East, reports the New York Times. Defense industry officials notified Congress that Arab allies fighting the Islamic State – Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt – are set to purchase thousands of American-made missiles and other weapons. Until recently Gulf Nations militaries have been “a combination of something between symbols of deterrence and national flying clubs. Now they’re suddenly being used”, said Richard L. Aboulafia, a defense analyst at the Teal Group. Saudi Arabia has become the world’s fourth largest defense market, spending more than USD 80 billion on weaponry last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute tracking global military spending. The Emirates and Qatar have followed suit, the Emirates spending nearly USD 23 billion last year and Qatar signing an USD 11 billion agreement for the purchase of Apache attack helicopters and an air defense system. (more…)

Source: The New York Times | Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States