Well-informed sources confirmed that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) spent 44.2 million euros on arms deals with Germany over the past year, the largest in four years.
According to the sources, a total of 48 approvals have been issued for Saudi Arabia. Of the total exports €7.1 million is for military weapons, €37.1 million is for other weapons.
These include deliveries of Tornado and Eurofighter fighters, which are manufactured in the UK. In addition, the German government allowed the US to export components for warships to Saudi Arabia for €40.8 million, which originally came from Germany.
Before the change of government in Germany in 2021, 30 export licences worth €2.52 million were granted to Saudi Arabia despite a massive arms export ban.
In 2020, 51 permits worth €30.75 million were granted. In 2019, it was €0.8 million for special licences for joint projects with alliance partners. The current ruling coalition “traffic light” in Germany increased the number of export permits to €44.2 million in 2022.
Germany suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia in November 2018 over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The opposition Greens and Left parties were extremely critical of the ruling coalition allowing German firms to do business with a nation holding dubious human rights records and its role in the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia ranked as the second-largest arms importer globally in 2018-2022. The Kingdom received 9.6 percent of all arms imports during that period.
According to a Saudi senior official, who refused to be named for security reasons, Saudi arms purchases during 2022 included aircraft, air defense systems, armored vehicles, missiles, naval weapons, sensors, and ships.
Saudi Arabia’s main suppliers and their share of its total imports: US (78 percent), France (6.4 percent), and Spain (4.9 percent).
The US arms transfers to Saudi Arabia included “the delivery of 91 combat aircraft with hundreds of land-attack missiles and over 20,000 guided bombs,” according to SIPRI’s report.
In 2018, MBS signed a Memorandum of Intent with the U.K. government to purchase 48 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter jets.
The aim of the MOI is to “finalise discussions for the purchase of 48 Typhoon Aircraft.”
Opposition politicians and activists in the U.K. have campaigned to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia over human rights issues and the war in Yemen.
