Saudi Arabia ranked among the largest defence spender in the world in 2021 behind the United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Saudi Arabia imports nearly 80 percent of its arms from the United States.
Saudi Arabia’s defence spending has grown substantially over the last decade, in part due to a significant procurement drive fuelled by the war in Yemen.
This week, the Biden administration approved two massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The more than $3 billion in missile defence and related sales follow President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last month, during which he met with numerous regional leaders in Saudi Arabia.
“The proposed sale will improve the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats by replenishing its dwindling stock of PATRIOT GEM-T missiles,” the US State Department said in its notice informing Congress of the sale.
“These missiles are used to defend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s borders against persistent Houthi cross-border unmanned aerial system and ballistic missile attacks on civilian sites and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia,” the department added.
Second Arms Deal during Biden’s Mandate
In November 2021, the US State Department approved its first major arms sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under US President Joe Biden with the sale of 280 air-to-air missiles valued at up to $650 million.
The $650 million sale includes 280 AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related equipment, including missile rail launchers, spare parts and contractor support.
Saudi Arabia Weapons Sale to Proceed
According to the 2017 Congressional Research Service report, Saudi Arabia spent $30 billion worth on military expenditures from 2008 to 2015. A total of $16 billion of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the US , and $11.4 billion from Western Europe, 1.6 billion dollars from Eastern Europe, and 1.3 billion dollars from China.
The report considered Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest arms importer from 2013 to 2017.
Despite the wide-ranging concerns in the U.S. and the United Kingdom about Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen, both Washington and London continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2019. A total of 73% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 13% from the UK.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia was the third largest recipient of German arms. The total for 2018 was €416.4 million. The kingdom is also considered France’s second-best arms customer between 2008 and 2017.
