Defence, Security Defence Budget and Military Equipment Procurement
Located in a sensitive area surrounded by large and powerful countries, in an unstable region, Qatar had to deal the first years of its independence with serious threats. The Islamic revolution of 1979 became an existential threat to the military and political survival of the Gulf Monarchies (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) since Ayatollah Khomeini openly declared his intention to overthrow the Gulf Monarchies.
Since the withdrawal of Britain from the Gulf in late 1971, it was Saudi Arabia that claimed the role of the new protector of the Arab Monarchies of the region. As a small state, Qatar entered into several defence agreements with different countries to enhance its security.
In 1981 the Gulf Monarchies established the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an attempt to achieve a level of collective military force and ability to mobilize against any threat to the Gulf countries by Iraq and Iran, the two important military powers of the region.
The Iraqi invasion to Kuwait in 1991 was the second geopolitical development that alerted the Government of Qatar, since the first Gulf crisis and the War that followed, “exposed” the inability of Saudi Arabia to protect itself and its allies from regional threats driving Qatar to the American protective shield.
The Iraqi invasion to Kuwait in 1990 and the First Gulf War in 1991 marked a new era in Qatari foreign and defence policy, as the military security of the state was taken under the umbrella of American military power. The security cooperation between Qatar and the U.S.A was solidified with the 1992 Defense Cooperation Agreement which was renewed in 2002 and 2013 and enables the U.S.A to maintain a large number of troops in Qatar.
In reality the Qatari defence strategy moved towards relying on the U.S military existence in Qatar as a source of security.
Although after the elimination of the Iraqi military threat, Qatar perceives Iran to be its primary strategic regional threat, it has adopted a policy of strategic hedging against Iran. The country maintained a transactional relationship with Iran which encompasses diplomatic and commercial ties, while at the same time forging and strengthening its security alliances with the U.S and neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Till the first half of the 1990’s Qatar’s focused on guaranteeing its military security in addition to the state security. When Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani came into power in 1995, he had the ambition to secure Qatar militarily and politically with the help of fixed principles in foreign policy.
This was the period of the construction of the Qatari state with the implementation of soft power and institutional and idea-based developments guaranteeing military security through third party support. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani personally laid the foundations for fixed principles in policymaking, including mediation, branding, aggressive internationalization, pragmatism, alliance building, niche diplomacy and Omni-balancing.
The Qatari Government continued to emphasize the development of alliances in order to strengthen self-defense capabilities and forming military cooperation.
Within this context of strategy, Qatar built in 1996 the Al Udeid Air Base, which was used by the U.S.A in late 2001, when the U.S Air Force need an air base for its operations in Afghanistan. In April 2003 the U.S Combat Air Operations Center for the Middle East moved from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia to what was at that time a backup HQ built, a year prior in Al Udeid Air Base.
The Al Udeid Air Base and other facilities in Qatar serve as logistics, command (USCENTCOM Forward Headquarters) and basing hubs for the U.S Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations. These facilities oversee U.S air military operations in the countries of the region and they consist of a key American asset in the Middle East and make Qatar a key ally.
Qatar’s defence strategy changed drastically after the Arab Spring revolutions, that Doha supported and the direct diplomatic confrontation of Qatar with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE in 2014 and later in 2017. The three years long Gulf blockade of 2017 by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt, forced Qatar to review its threat perception, reformulate a new strategy to protect its sovereignty and build cordial relations outside its Gulf neighbors.
As a result to these two crises, Qatar decided to change its strategy and invest further to two pylons of hard power, the procurement of new weapon systems from more than one source and the enhancement of its cooperation with other states besides the GCC.
Qatar’s defence strategy is based on the source of the security threats which means that Qatar did not have a certain one defence strategy as it has changed based on the source of perception of security threats.
Qatar’s weapon systems procurement program started in 2011 with the procurement of 62 Leopard 2A6 MBT and 24 PzH 2000 Howitzers from Germany but was accelerated in 2014 with the signing of multiple contracts for the procurement of Hellfire and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
The armament program continued the following year (2015) with the procurement of 10 Batteries of Patriot PAC-3 air defence systems, 24 Rafale fighter jets from France, 4 C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.
Furthermore, several Mk-V Fast Patrol Boats, an important number of RIM-116C & RIM-116C-2 RAM missiles, and 24 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters were ordered in 2016
The crisis of 2017 and the blockade enforced by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE, accelerated the armament campaign of Qatar.
During 2017 Qatar ordered 36 F-15QA fighter jets, Early Warning Radar Systems, 12 more Rafale fighter jets from France, and 24 Typhoon fighter jets from the UK. The armament program of the country continued with two major projects. These were the contract for the procurement of the 28 NH90 TTH/NFH helicopters in 2018 and the contract for the procurement of NASAMS air defence systems and additional Patriot PAC-3 fire units in 2019.
This rapid and decisive increase of the capabilities of the Qatari Air Force was followed by a number of several shipbuilding contracts with an Italian firm for the construction of new Frigates, Patrol Boats and a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) as part of an effort to create a Blue Waters Navy. The contracts were signed in August 2017 and included the building of four corvettes, two offshore patrol vessels, and one LPD.
It is important to mention that the four corvettes are equipped with Aster 30 Block 1NT long range air defence missiles.
Both the Air Force and the Navy are playing a crucial role for the implementation of the new Qatari defence strategy. The two crisis of 2014 and 2017 convinced the Qatari Government that its Armed Forces had to be upgraded and be ready to guarantee the independence, the sovereignty and prosperity of the country.
The Armed Forces of Qatar have two main tasks, to ensure the security of the littorals and the territorial waters of the country dotted with hundreds of oil and gas rigs, as well as to project power in bodies of water beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
The economic prosperity and political stability of Qatar rely on the country’s capacity to extract and export its LNG safely. The security of both Doha’s vast offshore gas reserves and Qatar’s maritime critical infrastructures enabling its energy industry’s growth. Moast of Qatar’s energy exports are from offshore opil and gas natural fields such as the North Dome Field which covers an area of 6,000 sq. km in Qatar’s northeastern territorial waters.
Furthermore, vital offshore facilities responsible for hydrocarbon processing storage and loading are located near the coastline areas. Finally Qatar extensively relies on maritime solutions such as the LNG carriers and the 364 km long underwater Dolphin gas pipeline that supplies UAE with gas to export its fossil fuels to its customers.
Till the mid 2010 Qatar’s Navy was focused on the protection of the territorial waters of the country. This Brown waters Navy consisted of several dozen fast interceptors, patrol boats and Fast Attack Missile Crafts tailored to operate in shallow littoral waters.
In August 2017 the Government of Qatar signed a 5 Billion Euro contract with Fincantieri for the construction of 4 Corvettes, 2 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) and the Al Fulk-class Landing Platform Deck (LPD) with advanced air defence capabilities. The 4 Doha-class corvette is a 107-meter multirole ship equipped with Aster 30Block 1NT long range anti-aircraft missiles, a RAM short range anti-aircraft missile system and 8 MM 40 Block III Exocet anti-surface warfare missiles.
This mega shipbuilding construction program marked the beginning of a new era for the Qatari Navy, the building of a Blue Waters fleet with advance long-range air-defence capabilities. Qatar’s naval renovation program has revolved around three key pillars. The upgrade of the fleet through the acquisition of high-end warships, the development of strong naval capabilities and the expansion of ashore infrastructure to support the growing fleet.
Defence Budget
In order to finance this massive armament program, Qatar increased between 2010 and 2021 its defence budget by 434%. According to Stockholm International Peace Research (SIPRI) the defence budget announced by the Qatari Government the Ministry of Defence in 2021 reached USD11.6 Billion, an amount higher by 434% that what it was spent in 2010 the last time Qatar announced such data.
The decision of Qatar to spent 4.8% of its GDP in 2021 for its defence, is a solid proof of the determination of the country to enhance its military capabilities within a short period of time. The procurement program of Qatar was financed generously the following years.
The Defence Budget of the country for 2022 reached USD15.4 Billion but it was temporarily reduced to USD14.4 Billion in 2024, with a prospect of a grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 6% during 2025-2029.
Special Defence Relationships with Turkey and the U.S.A
Besides the extensive long term armament program Qatar has invested on the development of close defence relationships with allied countries such as Turkey and the USA.
Qatar and Turkey signed an agreement in July 2002 regarding the military training and arms sales, while in 2007 they signed another agreement involving the defence industries of both countries. The following years Qatar initiated the first orders of Turkish made military equipment.
In March 2015, Qatar and Turkey signed a military agreement which entailed mutual military deployment and exchange of military training. On the 2nd of December 2015 during the visit of the Turkish President in Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Tayyip Erdogan jointly announced the establishment of a Turkish military base in Qatar.
The establishment of the new base was part of a broader defence agreement between the two countries to confront common enemies. The agreement was signed in 2014 and ratified by the Turkish Parliament in June 2015.
The deployment of the Turkish troops to Qatar started in October 2015 as part of an initial plan to set up an advisory command group within the Qatari General Staff (Qatar-Turkey Combined Joint Force Command) and to build a military base consisting of roughly 500-600 soldiers. The Turkish base has been built south of Doha near the Tariq ibn Ziyad military base. The Turkish base will be able to host in the future 5,000 ground troops air and naval units’ military trainers and special operations forces.
The victory of the U.S during the Gulf War in 1991, paved the way for Qatar to come closer to the U.S foreign and defence policy. The establishment of the Head Quarters of the U.S Central Command Combined Air Operations Center, the Air Force Central Command Forward, the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-Syria and the US Air Force 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in Qatar, solidified the defence relationships of the two countries.
This strong relationship was further enhanced on the 31st of January 2022 when the U.S President Joe Biden designated Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) to the U.S making Qatar the third country in the Gulf region after Kuwait and Bahrain to receive this status and one of only 18 countries globally (among them Israel, Egypt, Australia, and Japan).
Qatar gained this status due to its continuous assistance during the evacuation of 60.000 US Citizens, lawful permanent residents and Afghan partners from Afghanistan in 2021 and the during the Israel-Hamas conflict. In both cases Qatar served as a liaison and mediator between America and the Taliban and Hamas thanks to the good relationships Doha maintains with the Taliban and Hamas.
The MNNA status allows Qatar to conduct cooperative R&D projects on defense equipment and munitions with the U.S. Furthermore, Qatar will be eligible to bid on contracts to maintain, repair, or overhaul U.S military equipment. Finally, Qatar’s goals for military acquisition and sustainment requirements will be given greater attention and care by the U.S government.