Limits to production cast shadow over Middle East arms industry
Hunter-2 UAVs displayed by EDGE at UMEX in February 2022. (Photo: EDGE)
Domestic industrial production capabilities across the Middle East are not enough to project power, according to a leading defence analyst.
A leading defence analyst has told Shephard that JVs and co-production of military equipment continue to define the Middle East arms industry.
Bilal Saab, senior fellow and founding director of the Defense and Security Program at the Middle East Institute explained that countries across the region are never ‘going to be able to indigenously develop capabilities that will be really useful to [support] national security objectives’.
The extraordinary order of 80 Rafale F4 fighter jets from the UAE in December 2021 again highlighted the overreliance of Middle Eastern operators on Western imports, while domestic manufacturers such as EDGE have tended to focus on low-cost
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