Middle Eastern Countries to Spend More Than $100 Billion on Arms over Five YearsAugust 24, 2009

 

Growing fears about a nuclear-armed Iran is driving Middle Eastern countries to bulk up their arms spending.

Countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq and Israel are expected to spend more than $100 billion over the next five years, according to a study by Frost & Sullivan, a New York-based consulting firm. United Press International (UPI) published an article about the study on UPI.com.

Part of the spending spree is driven by the fear that an Iraq mired in civil war will collapse and the violence will spill over into neighboring states. But the major factor is that the Sunni-led Arab regimes—the majority of Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait—fear that a nuclear-armed Shiite state like Iran will try to destabilize them.

The report notes that Saudi Arabia spent about $36 billion on arms in 2008, UPI reported, and most came from the United States. Saudi Arabia expects is expected to spend about the same amount this year.

The United States is offering six states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain—a $20 billion package of weapons over 10 years.

Israel will receive a $30 billion package over 10 years, a 25% increase over previous levels, following its agreement to allow the U.S. to provide a $13 billion of state-of-art weapons package to Egypt.

In return, Israel will receive arms technology that has a marked edge over what is provided to its neighboring Muslim countries, the article noted. Early this summer, Israel submitted an official Letter of Request to the U.S. Department of Defense to buy its first fleet of Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter jets, known more commonly as the Joint Strike Fighter. The article notes that Israel would like to purchase 25 of the jets. Israel also wants another 50 jets, some of which have vertical takeoff capabilities, UPI reported.

UAE would also receive some cutting edge technology. The UAE is the first foreign customer of the Theater High Altitude Air Defense system, a missile defense system. The Pentagon recently approved its sale to the UAE.