Qatar’s Defense Spending Spree
Qatar has become the new darling of the defense contractors after announcing plans to spend 87 billion riyals ($23 billion) on new equipment for its armed forces.
The deal is the largest to emerge from the gas-rich Persian Gulf state yet, and the spending is likely to continue.
The plans—revealed on the last day of the Dimdex defense show in Doha on March 27, much to the surprise of industry officials in attendance—read like the fulfillment of a wish list of new capabilities long-sought by Qatari commanders and the country's leaders. Airborne early warning radar aircraft, aerial refueling tankers, battlefield helicopters and surface-to-air missile systems are all in play. The largest of the deals are being awarded to Qatar's two biggest allies—the U.S. and France.
It appears that the majority of the contract awards are at a preliminary stage; many of the systems are simply selected or at the letters-of-intent stage. So far, Doha has signed up for a trio of Boeing 737-based airborne early-warning-and-control aircraft, two Airbus A330-200 multirole tanker transports, 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters—being ordered through the U.S. Army Foreign Military Sales program—and 22 NH Industries NH90 utility helicopters ordered through the French government. The latter buy will be split between 12 battlefield utility TTH variants and 10 naval NFH versions.
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PA110 wrote:What threat does Qatar face that it needs to spend so much money on defense? Is it simply "keeping up with the Joneses" or is all that oil & gas money burning a hole in their pockets?
Allstarflyer wrote:In the end, I think it could be to prep for the World Cup
