Editor's Foreword

system specifically targeted to counter Iran’s growing
military reach. The most substantial part of the
US$10bn package will see the UAE become the first
foreign country to take delivery of the US-designed
Terminal High Altitude Air Defense ballistic-missile
defence system, capable of destroying incoming
ballistic missiles at a range of 200m. The programme
also provides funds for the deployment of 10 Patriot
PAC-3 fire units, plus 200 missiles and a wide array of
technical assistance, logistics support, and throughlife
support and training.
In common with other Gulf states possessing
significant offshore assets, the UAE is in the process
of upgrading its maritime capabilities and announced
further procurement plans during 2009. In future,
the UAE’s naval forces will be centred around six
72m Baynunah-class multi-mission corvettes supplemented
by a number of smaller craft. During IDEX
2009, the navy announced that it would be procuring
12 new missile-armed fast craft that will be built to
a modified Ghannatha design. The new vessels, to be
built by Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) at a cost of
US$200m, will be a stretched version of the existing
Ghannatha and will be fitted with box launchers for
four MBDA Marte Mk 2/N surface-to-surface guided
missiles. A second contract will see the navy’s 12
existing Ghannatha fast troop carriers split into two
separate sub-classes: six will be modified as mortar
platforms; the remainder will continue as troop
carriers but with additional armament. In a separate
development, ADSB will work with the Turkish
shipbuilder Yonca Onuk to build a total of 34 16m
fast-interceptor vessels based on the latter’s MRTP16
design. Surveillance capabilities will be boosted by
the conversion of four Bombardier Dash 8 airlines
into maritime-patrol configuration and a single 88m
Italian-built corvette that, as well as patrolling, will
include facilities for an embarked helicopter and an
organic anti-submarine warfare capability.
In Israel, tensions between the government and
armed forces over the appropriate level of military
spending persist. Following the 2006 conflict
in Lebanon, the Israeli defence establishment had
complained that the poor performance of the Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) during that conflict was a
direct result of years of under-funding, which had
resulted in a serious lack of manpower, training and
equipment, and requested an immediate increase in
the defence budget of NIS7bn. In response to this
accusation, the Finance Ministry set up the Brodet
Committee, to conduct a comprehensive review of
Middle East and North Africa
243
Israeli defence-funding mechanisms and to propose
a new framework for the future. In its final report,
the Brodet Committee suggested that funding levels
were not the primary reason for the IDF’s poor performance
during the Lebanese war, concluding that
current funds were adequate and that future defence
budgets only needed to be increased by around 2%
annually. Much to the irritation and disappointment
of the IDF, the government accepted these findings.
The following year, the IDF received better news
when it emerged that the Israeli government had been
successful in negotiating an increase in the amount of
military aid it receives each year from the US. Under
the revised initiative, the US agreed to a ten-year
US$30bn Foreign Military Financing (FMF) package,
representing a 25% increase over the previous ten
years. Annual payments will increase by US$150m
a year, rising from US$2.4bn in 2007 to US$3.1bn in
2011 and each year thereafter.
In 2009, with defence financing still generating
conflict between the government and IDF, and the
Israeli economy suffering from the global slowdown,
the Likud-led government settled on a two-year
budget deal that included cuts of just NIS1.5bn during
FY09 and FY10. The government had originally
outlined a two-year defence budget that included
cuts of some NIS6bn; however, this was rejected by
the coalition Labor Party and, in view of the government’s
shaky position, a compromise was agreed.
However, with most government departments seeing
cuts of around 6% in 2009 the final agreement that
defence spending would only be cut by 2% is something
of a coup for Labor leader Ehud Barak, who had
threatened to resign if more drastic cuts were implemented.
It was also agreed that external consultants
would be brought into the Ministry of Defense to
help design an ambitious ten-year NIS30bn efficiency
programme.
The combination of the Brodet review, together
with the completion of FMF negotiations and several
enquiries into the conflict with Hizbullah, finally
resulted in a new five-year plan to cover the period
2008–12. Known as ‘Tefen 2012’, the plan highlighted
four main threat scenarios: conventional war with
Syria, missile attack by Iran, instability in neighbouring
moderate countries and asymmetric terror
and rocket attacks. Under the plan, nine core capabilities
must be either maintained or upgraded:
• Modern MBTs
• Precision-strike capability (including the
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft
Middle East and
North Africa