UAE is top weapons importer in Middle East

The UAE is the largest arms importer in the Middle East and the sixth largest buyer of weapons worldwide, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

The Gulf state occupied the top spot in the four years between 2006 to 2010, accounting for 23 percent of all major weapons deals in the region.

“While its arms imports in 2010 were lower than in the previous years, the UAE will probably remain a top arms importer in the coming years based on a significant order backlog and plans for further major contracts for advanced weapons,” the report said.

The US, France, Italy and Russia were named as the Gulf state’s key suppliers.

Flush with petrodollars, the six countries of the Gulf have unveiled ambitious plans to modernise their small armed forces. The region is forecast to spend as much as $100bn in the next few years in overhauling their military, in part to counter the perceived threat posed by Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf’s wealthiest state, was ranked at No.22 on the list of global arms importers for the period of 2006 to 2010, SIPRI said.

The kingdom is likely to significantly improve that ranking in coming years, however, on the back of a slew of major military deals.

Saudi is to spend as much as $60bn in buying up to 84 F-15 fighters, upgrades for 70 existing jets, just under 200 helicopters, laser-guided missiles and bombs, and advanced radar systems from the US.
The deal is the single largest in US history.

The UAE in February signed AED4bn ($1.1bn) worth of military deals at the annual IDEX defence show, held in Abu Dhabi.

As a region, the Middle East accounted for 17 percent of major conventional weapons deals between 2006 to 2010, SIPRI said, down from 21 percent in the period between 2001 to 2005.