Qatar’s military deals since rift

CAIRO – 12 December 2017: Qatar has signed several multi-billion dollar deals for purchasing fighter jets and other military equipment since the Qatar crisis started six months ago.

Qatar signed a €6 billion (about $7 billion) deal to purchase 24 Typhoon fighters from Britain, BBC reported Sunday.

According to the British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson, the order of Typhoons is the biggest in a decade.

Williamson and his Qatari counterpart Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah also signed an agreement for establishing a Joint Operational Squadron between both countries’ air forces, according to a statement by Qatar’s armed forces.

During his visit to Doha on December 7, French President Emmanuel Macron said he agreed on some $14.13 billion deals with Qatar, AP reported.


A French navy Rafale Marine aircraft launches from USS Carl Vinson - Official U.S. Navy Page / Flickr

The deals included the purchase of 12 French-made Rafale fighter jets. Qatar said it would possibly purchase 36 more fighter jets, Reuters reported.

Qatar also agreed to purchase 490 VBCI armored vehicles from French Nexter.

The U.S. Department of Defense said in a press release that Raytheon, U.S. defense contractor, will install and maintain ‘Patriot’ air defense systems for the armed forces of Qatar, Sputnik reported on December 2.

Raytheon, the world's largest producer of guided missiles, was awarded a more than $150-million foreign military sales contract to carry out the process.


U.S. Patriot missiles stand guard over Gaziantep, Turkey in 2013 – U.S. Army Europe / Flickr

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani said in August that Qatar sealed a deal with Italy worth about $5.9 billion to purchase seven navy vessels, according to Reuters.

Only few days after the Arab quartet boycotted Qatar, Qatar signed a $12billion deal in June to purchase 36 (F-15) jets from the U.S., Bloomberg News reported.

A pentagon agency said in November that the U.S. approved a possible $1.1 billion to service Qatar’s F-15QA fighter aircraft program.

In an interview with Sky News, former Egyptian Ambassador to Qatar Mohammed al-Menessy said that he sought the reason behind Qatar’s keenness to construct Al-Udeid Air Base.

According to Menessy, former Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber told him that the real danger on Qatar comes from its Gulf neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia.


An aerial overhead view of "Ops Town" – Al-Udeid Air Base / U.S. Air Force

The Al-Udeid Air Base is a military base established in 1996 in the southwest of Doha. The base hosts more than 11,000 U.S. and coalition service members, and more than 100 aircrafts, according to media reports.

In an interview with TV host Lamees el-Hadidy, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that the Arab Quartet will not resort to using military force with Qatar, as the Qatari crisis is a “very small problem.”

On June 5, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, hurling allegations that the state supports terrorism.