Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) involvement in the Yemen war is still negatively impacting the Kingdom’s reputation.
Military sources revealed that Germany’s coalition government is at odds over whether to bow to British pressure and approve the production of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for Saudi Arabia.
A deal struck by Riyadh and BAE Systems (BAES.L) five years ago, for the arms maker to supply 48 such jets was put on hold due to the war in Yemen, where Saudi-led Arab forces intervened in 2015.
In 2018, Britain signed a multi-billion-pound preliminary order for Saudi Arabia to purchase 48 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. A third of the components for the jets come from Germany.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner are leaning towards allowing the export, but the Greens, and parts of the SPD, are strongly against the move, according to the sources.
In the wake of the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Germany decided to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
A March 2018 governing accord between then-chancellor Angela Merkel and the SPD banned arms sales to any parties to the war in Yemen, except for certain previously approved items and those that will remain in the purchasing country.
Reliable sources revealed that Saudi Arabia is the fifth-largest military spender worldwide, spending some $75 billion last year. Supposedly, this puts Riyadh above the UK, Germany, and France.
Saudi Arabia’s military spending in 2022 increased by 16%, reaching an estimated $75 billion, the largest since 2018, the sources clarified.
In 2022, Riyadh spent an estimated $75bn on its military, according to the sources, up from the $48bn it spent in 2021. This was more than seven percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Saudi Arabia was last ranked in the top three military spenders in 2020.
Saudi military spending exceeded in 5 years the spending in the education and health sectors, estimated at $273 billion, representing 20.9% of government spending in total.
The Saudi government allocated 17.7% of its 2021 budget for military spending, estimated nearly $46.7 billion, down from the $48bn it spent in 2020.
Since 2016, Saudi Arabia has intensified its military spending, which includes non-military security institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Interior.
Saudi Arabia has spent a fortune buying arms from the US to prosecute a war that has killed almost a quarter of a million people — the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe in our lifetime.
However, no real achievement was reported, as Saudi Arabia failed to stop Houthi attacks on the Kingdom.
Within the last 10 years, Saudi Arabia has turned itself into the world’s largest buyer of weapons on the world market. Ten years ago, they were buying 90% less than they are today.
The US and UK are the kingdom’s top suppliers. A total of 61% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 49% of British arms exports are allocated to Saudi Arabia.
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.
The ramp up has been significant since their March 2015 intervention in the Yemen civil war.
MBS has signed a number of arms deals totaling billions of dollars since taking office, completely disregarding record-breaking unemployment and poverty rates.
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.
