The UAE among the world's top largest arms importers

The UAE ranked in the top 10 largest arms importers over the past 5 years through 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think-tank said.

The top 10 largest importers of arms in the Middle East were: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain, and Iraq.

The UAE’s arms imports over 2018-2022 were 38 percent lower than in 2013-2017, making its ranking drop out of the top 10 importers to being ranked 11th globally. SIPRI highlighted: “Notable arms imports in 2018–22 included hundreds of air defense missiles and over 20,000 guided bombs from the US.”

The highest majority of arms and weapons imports to the Middle East came from the US (54 percent), followed by France (12 percent), Russia (8.6 percent) and Italy (8.4 percent).

 SIPRI data showed that those imports included more than 260 advanced combat aircraft, 516 new tanks and 13 frigates. The think-tank highlighted that “Arab states in the Gulf region alone have placed orders for another more than 180 combat aircraft.”