Airforces Monthly - February 2017

THE WARNES REPORT
A resurgence of Islamist militancy in the region — as well as a perceived threat posed by Iran —
is leading many Middle Eastern countries to modernise their fighter fleets, as Alan Warnes explains.
LET’S
GET
ARMED!
The Apache has proved to be a popular choice for customers in the region. Boeing
FOR SEVERAL years there was
little in the way of fighter
‘movement’ within the
purchasing departments of the
Middle Eastern air forces. But
just recently that’s all changed,
leading to senior executives
from British, French, Italian
and US companies feeling very
pleased with themselves after
a massive sales spree by Arab
countries getting jittery over the
increasing hostilities between
Shia and Sunni Muslims.
The deals have gone further
than just procuring new
fighters, with improved
trainers and helicopters on
the shopping lists too. The
only Gulf Co-operation Council
(GCC) nation that hasn’t been
spending money on new fighters
is the United Arab Emirates.
But on December 7, as
part of a $3.5bn deal for the
seven-strong federation, the
US administration cleared
the sale of nine new Boeing
AH-64E Apache Guardians
and the remanufacture of the
UAE’s 28 existing AH-64Ds.
Why now?
The rise of militancy has caused
alarm in the Middle East. The
Sunni-inspired so-called Islamic
State (also known as Daesh)
tore through southern Syria
and northern Iraq in mid-2014,
while the Iranian-backed Shialed
Houthi militia overthrew
the Yemeni government
in September that year.
Proxy wars between Shia and
Sunni Muslim factions have
continued to unfold, supported
by some of the ‘big guns’ in
the Middle East. But instead
of the US and Russia pulling
the strings, it’s Iran and Saudi
Arabia that are, according to
UK Foreign Secretary Boris
32 FEBRUARY 2017 #347
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