88% of US arms sale in Gulf to UAE, Saudi

The Gulf countries splashed $37 billion (Dh135.8 billion) on buying the US weapons during 2005 to 2009 with 88 per cent of them went to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

The Defense Department authorised about $22 billion of transfers under the Foreign Military Sales programme to the Gulf countries, the GAO found. Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounted for more than 88 percent of the total value.

The GAO couldn’t accurately determine the value of transfers under the State Department’s Direct Commercial Sales program because some figures were duplicated and at least $6 billion of $21 billion in authorised transfers were for US military units.

Between 2005 and 2009, the UAE had about $11 billion in authorised arms transfers; Saudi Arabia was next with about $8 billion.

The UAE’s biggest purchase was Patriot defence missile system valued at $6.5 billion in 2009. The emirate is also considering a $10-billion fighter jet deal with the US, media reports said earlier this month.
In all, the Gulf states are expected to spend approximately $123bn on the purchase of US arms in the coming years.

Saudi Arabia will top the list with $67 billion, followed by the UAE ($40bn), Oman ($12bn) and Kuwait ($7bn).

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