Albert Vidal Ribe
The United States sparked interest in uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Gulf region with the extensive use of such systems in the early 2000s, but concerns in Washington about transferring the technology opened the door to Chinese and Turkish exports and, more recently, home-grown solutions.
After a period of selective purchases, some of the Gulf states have become among the most active buyers of UAVs. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone has placed orders for around 500 UAVs in recent years. Those include deals with Baykar for 60 Bayraktar TB2 medium and 60 Akinci heavy UAVs and with Swiss-headquartered Anavia to supply 200 rotorcraft UAVs. International Golden Group and ADASI, subsidiaries of UAE defence conglomerate EDGE, are also on contract for uninhabited systems.
Saudi Arabia placed the largest-ever order by value of Turkish UAVs last year in a deal valued at around USD3 billion. And the number of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members buying is also growing. Until around 2017, only the UAE and Saudi Arabia had made purchases, but since then, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar have also ordered Turkish or Chinese UAVs, even if in lower numbers.
While the Gulf countries initially went UAV-shopping globally because of the US reluctance to sell, their buying patterns now reflect the region’s efforts to avoiding picking sides in geopolitical terms and underscore an ambition to become more self-reliant in military equipment.
Buying from BeijingUS reluctance to share advanced UAV technology, driven in part by concerns about undermining the Missile Technology Control Regime, kept it from meeting the growing demand from GCC countries. China filled that vacuum and, during the early 2010s, became the dominant provider, with ground-breaking deals such as the sale of Chengdu Wing Loong I to the UAE around 2010 and the same system to Saudi Arabia a few years later. China built on that success with further UAV sales to the two countries, as well as to Oman.
But the Gulf states have more recently found a new preferred supplier: Turkiye. The shift was driven by frustration with some of the Chinese equipment. Iraq, for instance, has had to ground most of its systems because of technical problems. Turkish UAVs also gained traction because they featured prominently in fighting in Libya, Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia, and the war in Syria.
Turkiye also capitalised on its ability to deliver equipment quickly. Bayraktar TB2 deliveries to the UAE began within months of the order being placed. Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also buying from Turkiye.
Do-it-yourselfNo longer satisfied with importing systems, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have ramped up domestic design and manufacturing of UAVs of different types. The efforts initially are aimed at addressing needs of their own armed forces, though both countries also harbour interest in eventually securing export orders.
The UAE’s EDGE Group is in the final development stage of its Reach-S UAV, a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) system capable of being armed. After completing several flight tests and weapons-release campaigns. A larger version, called Reach-M, was unveiled at the 2023 Dubai Airshow. EDGE said it planned to complete flight testing in 2024. The company is also in the early stages of developing Jeniah, a large jet-powered uninhabited combat air vehicle (UCAV) with low-observable characteristics and a payload of over 400 kilograms. A sub-scale model of Jeniah has been undergoing flight trials since at least late 2023.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing similar domestic UAV development and manufacturing efforts through companies such as Unmanned X, Serb, and INTRA Defense Technologies. INTRA is developing the Samoom, a MALE with 40 hours of endurance. A company official says the Samoom should be delivered to the kingdom’s armed forces by the end of 2025. INTRA has inaugurated a UAV factory in Riyadh with a production capacity of 120 aircraft annually. Saudi Arabia also aims to license produce Turkish Akinci, according to Walid Abukhaled, chief executive of government-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI). The company is working with the Turkish system designer Baykar to qualify its production lines. SAMI has sent 300 Saudi employees to work with Baykar to enhance its skills base.
Flight trajectoryDespite local efforts, Gulf countries are unlikely to stop buying systems from abroad, in part to maintain strategic relations.
The US, also, could yet become a player in the market, making it even more heavily contested space. Washington has eased its restrictive policy that had limited its foreign sales of UAVs. One clear example was the decision to allow the sale of General Atomics MQ-9B UAVs to India. It is a success the US will be looking to build on in an increasingly competitive market.
Washington also has approved the possible sale of MQ-9B UAVs to the UAE, along with related weapons, in a deal valued at almost USD3bn. But completing the deal has been slow, and it is still not finalised more than three years later, signalling that the US landing a major UAV export to the Gulf region remains a bumpy affair.
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