Russian Arms Deliveries to Arab Countries of the Persian Gulf Region
Mikhail Barabanov
The Persian Gulf region is one of the main new markets that has opened to Russian arms exports since 1991. The Soviet Union provided significant quantities of arms to Iran and Iraq, but of the conservative Arab regimes, Kuwait was the sole partner of the Soviet Union in this sphere of activity. The other «oil monarchy» governments were strongly set against cooperation with the USSR for political reasons. Indeed, the Soviet Union had not even established diplomatic relations with the majority of members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) until the last years of its existence: with Oman in 1985, Qatar in 1988, Bahrain in 1990, and with Saudi Arabia only in 1991.
Decisive factors promoting improved relations between Moscow and the Gulf Cooperative Countries included the elimination of Communist ideological expansion as an element of Soviet foreign policy, the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, which forced Kuwait’s Gulf allies to seek the broadest possible international support and to isolate Iraq from the USSR. Implicit Soviet support for the anti-Iraq coalition, gave the Soviet Union an opening to establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and initiate military-technical cooperation with a range of states in the region.
Kuwait
Kuwait was practically the only Arab monarchy of the Persian Gulf to maintain broad relations with the Soviet Union before the late 1980s. This reflected the relatively close alignment of the foreign policies of the two states on a range of issues, as well as the traditional drive of Kuwait, wary of the Iraqi threat, to secure support not only from the United States but also from the Soviet Union – then Iraq’s close ally – with the intent of diversifying its levers of influence over its northern neighbor. Moreover, Kuwait and the Soviet Union signed a trade agreement in 1985 granting each other most favored nation status for navigation and trade purposes. Kuwait was also the sole Gulf Cooperative country to purchase Soviet arms.
Military-technical cooperation between the Soviet Union and Kuwait began in 1977. Over the course of the following 10 years, Kuwait received 33 9K52 Luna-M (FROG-7) tactical rocket systems, along with a corresponding number of 9M21F tactical rockets with a maximum range of 68 km, 60 122-mm D-30 towed howitzers, 20 9K33M Osa (SA-8) self-propelled low-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems with 550 9M33 surface-to-air guided missiles, 9K32M Strela-2M (SA-7) man-portable air-defense (MANPAD) missile systems with 700 9M32M missiles, and 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14) MANPAD systems with 200 9M36 missiles. The largest contract was concluded in 1988 for 245 BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, valued at about $300 million, along with 2,340 9M111 Fagot (AT-4) anti-tank guided weapons (ATGW) missiles. The delivery of BMP-2 occurred in 1989-1990, with the majority arriving before the Iraqi invasion. According to Soviet data, the total value of Soviet military deliveries to Kuwait from 1977 to 1990 was $625.8 million.
Following the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait continued to sense a potential threat from Saddam’s regime, and sought additional support from countries in addition to the United States. It is notable that in January of 1991, during the Iraqi occupation, Kuwait agreed to loan the Soviet Union $1.1 billion for seven years.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kuwait sought to ramp up its military-technical relations with post-Communist Russia. In February of 1993 the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding in the military sphere, which allows for deliveries of Russian arms to the emirate and joint consultations in case of threats to the stability and security of Kuwait itself or to the region as a whole. The agreement is similar to those signed by the United States and West European countries with the Arab monarchies from the 1950s to the 1990s aimed at deepening military relations. Joint Kuwaiti-Russian naval exercises took place under this agreement in December of 1993.
In 1994, Russia sold 122 BMP-3 and 27 9A52 Smerch 300-mm multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to Kuwait. The BMP-3 were equipped with 1,250 9M117 Arkan (AT-10) ATGWs of the 9K116-3 Basnya missile system. The total value of these contracts amounted to $762.6 million.
The Russian MOD established a permanent representation with the Kuwaiti MOD in 1996. Kuwait paid more than $3.5 million for the services of 10 military advisors from 1999 to 2002. In 2000, the Russian state company Promeksport agreed to supply parts for the Smerch MLRS worth $12.9 million, and in January of 2001, Rosoboroneksport agreed to deliver ammunition for the Smerch MLRS and the BMP-2 and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles for $156.7 million. A contract was signed in 1994 for 122 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, four of which were delivered that year with the remainder in 1995 (91 units) and 1996 (27 units).
Kuwait Defense Minister Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah paid a visit to Russia in September of 2002, when he stated that Kuwait was interested in Russia’s most advanced military technologies. However, since then not a single significant contract for the sale of Russian arms to Kuwait has been reached, due largely to the elimination of the Iraqi threat after the razing and occupation of Iraq by US and UK forces in the spring of 2003.
United Arab Emirates
In 1987, the UAE Army purchased a set of 9K310 Igla-1 (SA-16) MANPAD systems from the Soviet Union. Cooperation with Russia began with the notable contract for BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, concluded in 1992, only a few months after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, the UAE has become the leading importer of Russian arms in the Persian Gulf region.
A larger contract for the delivery of 402 BMP-3 for the Army of another emirate, Dubai, followed in 1994. The total deliveries of BMP-3 to the UAE has never been published officially, and unofficial sources are often contradictory. According to the data presented by the Russian Federation to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, 653 BMP-3 were delivered to the UAE in 1992-2000.
In addition to the BMP-3, the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant also delivered command vehicles and BREM-L Beglyanka armored recovery and repair vehicles. The quantity of such vehicles was not provided to the UN register, but since the total number of BMP-3 vehicles is 815 units, one could conclude that 162 special-purpose vehicles were delivered. Thus, the UAE has become the world’s largest user of BMP-3, and the orders placed by the Emirates literally saved the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant, the leading Russian producer of armored equipment, from closure during the difficult times of economic crisis in Russia during the 1990s. The total value of all contracts for the BMP-3 and related vehicles and armaments has never been officially published but has been estimated in the Russian press as surpassing $1 billion.
The BMP-3s delivered to the UAE differ from the standard Soviet version in that they are equipped with French thermal imagers. According to Kurgan Machine-Building Plant executives, negotiations are under way with the UAE to establish a joint venture offering turnkey full repairs of all versions of the BMP-3 fleet.
The UAE Army had plans to modernize its BMP-3 in five aspects: the installation of an automatic gearbox, an automatic antitank missile loader, a rear-view chamber, updated fire-control and driver observation systems, and fume reduction systems. The Kurgan Machine-Building Plant presented the UAE army with a BMP-3 refurbished along these lines, plus an air conditioner, in early 2005. The UAE military was offered an even deeper modernization of the BMP-3, including a new, more powerful engine and a commander panoramic sight, developed by the Belarusian firm Peleng. Other versions offered include BMP equipped with an explosive reactive armor kit and passive (Shtora) or active (Arena-E) countermeasures systems. However, the UAE has yet to conclude any contracts with Russia on the modernization of its BMP-3 vehicles.
In 1996 Rosvooruzheniye concluded a contract to deliver six 9A52 Smerch 300-mm MLRS. By our estimates, the value of this contract could be up to $100 million. The systems were shipped in 1999. In 1997, Rosvooruzheniye contracted to deliver 40 Dzhigit twin-round tripod-based launchers to the UAE for mounting on jeeps and firing 9M313 and 9M39 missiles of the 9K310 Igla-1 (SA-16) and 9K38 Igla (SA-18) MANPAD systems, respectively. According to some reports, the Dzhigit launchers were especially developed by the Kolomenskoye Machine-Building Design Bureau for the UAE Army. In the UAE, the Dzhigits were mounted on Nissan Patrol jeeps, and were later adapted to fire 9M338 missiles of the new 9K338 Igla-S (SA-24) MANPAD system – such missiles were also sold to the UAE.
In 1999, the Tula Instrument Design Bureau delivered a batch of 9K129 Kornet-E (AT-14) ATGW systems with 9M133 missiles. In 2004, the Kolomenskoye Machine-Building Design Bureau demonstrated the Kvartet, a quadruple launcher version at the Paris arms exhibition, with 9M133 ATGW missiles, mounted on the French Panhard VBL light armored vehicle, and it is thought that this version was designed specifically for the UAE. A batch of Kvartet was purchased by the UAE and mounted on US-made HMMWV vehicles. The system is also meant to be installed on Nimr vehicles.
In February of 2007, Rosoboroneksport signed a contract to deliver a batch of infantry armaments for over $50 million, including small arms, ammunition, RPG-29 Vampir antitank rocket launchers and several Kornet-E ATGW systems.
The KamAZ automobile plant delivered about 1,000 KamAZ-4326 double-axis all-wheel trucks to the UAE armed forces. The first batch of 200 vehicles was shipped in July of 2001; a second contract was apparently concluded in 2002 for about 500 vehicles, and the third, in 2004, was for «more than 300.» The total cost of those deliveries, by our estimates, was about $40 million. In 2007, the manager of KamAZ Vladimir Samoylov said that «we plan to open a service and sales center in the UAE.»
The UAE is highly interested in the Iskander-E (SS-26) short-range ballistic missile system with a maximum range of 280 km. In August of 2006 it was announced that the UAE is conducting negotiations with Russia to acquire Club-M mobile coastal defense cruise missile systems for an estimated $250-$300 million. This could involve the delivery of two or three self-propelled launchers, each of which carrying four or six antiship cruise missiles (evidently, the 3M54E missiles with supersonic third-stage, whose Western designation is SS-N-27B).
Naval cooperation has thus far been limited to the delivery to the UAE in 1994 of two Project 11770 Serna «air-lubricated» high-speed utility landing craft, built by the Volga plant in Nizhni Novgorod. However, these craft were not retained by the military and were transferred to civilian service in 1998.
Likewise, Russian aviation has yet to show any success in the UAE. Negotiations on the possible delivery of 24 Sukhoy Su-39 (Su-25TM) attack aircraft concluded with no results in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the Sukhoy Su-35 (T-10M) fighter participated without success in the international air-force competition held by the UAE for a new fighter, losing out to the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60 offered by the United States. In November of 2005, the deputy director of the MiG Russian Aircraft Corporation Vladimir Vypryazhkin said his company was negotiating to establish the licensed production of a new MiG-AT trainer jet in Egypt and the UAE, though in the end this proposal did not make the list of UAE tenders for basic and advanced trainers in 2006.
On the whole, Russia has captured a well-defined place on the UAE arms market and earned a degree of trust on the part of the military elite of this country as a reliable supplier of arms. This gives Russia some hope for continuing and deepening relations with the UAE in the military-technical sphere. In November of 2006, Russia and the UAE signed an intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation. The agreement envisages projects relating to the delivery of Russian arms and ammunition for the ground forces, the development of the UAE air-defense systems, and space research. In the future, both countries are looking at signing an agreement in the sphere of protecting secret information and intellectual property.
Russian Engineering Design
The UAE is among the pioneers of emerging international forms of military-technical cooperation, such as the financing of the design of new types of weapons and equipment by other nations. With Russia, the UAE is financing the development of the Nimr off-road vehicle and the Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22) self-propelled antiaircraft gun-missile system.
The contract for the development of a vehicle with the Arabic designation AB17 Nimr (Tiger) was concluded in early 1999 with a consortium that included the Jordanian King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) and Bin Jabr Enterprises. The latter initially figured as a joint Russian-Emirates venture, with the GAZ automobile plant from Nizhni Novgorod holding a 50-percent stake. Engineers from GAZ and the Industrial Computer Technologies engineering firm (a subsidiary of GAZ) were the de-facto designers of the Nimr, designated GAZ-2975. The UAE provided financing to the tune of $60 million.
Three prototypes were made in 2000; an armored versions and a 6x6 version were later developed as well. The vehicle was to be assembled in the UAE at Advanced Industries of Arabia (AIA), established by KADDB and Bin Jabr, and in Jordan, with plans to produce up to 12,000 vehicles in the nonarmored and 2,000 in the armored versions. In early 2005, the UAE army awarded AIA a contract worth $41 million to deliver 500 vehicles. In 2007, Bin Jabr continued to advertise the vehicle in several versions, offering it for exportation to India, for instance. The Tiger was developed in Russia as the GAZ-2330 and produced for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and for the Russian Army.
The development of the Pantsyr-S1 air-defense system by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau was one of the most important military R&D projects in Russia for a foreign customer. An order for the development of the 96K6 Pantsyr-S1 self-propelled short-range antiaircraft gun-missile system was first awarded to the Tula Instrument Design Bureau in 1990 by the Air Defense Forces command of the Soviet Union. In 1995, the first version of the Pantsyr-S1 mounted on a vehicle chassis and equipped with a fire-control radar was developed by Fazotron-NIIR, but during testing it fell short of requirements. As a result, the Air Defense Forces lost interest in the system, and in the end it was offered by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau for exportation, with any further development to be paid for by a potential customer.
The UAE showed interest, but set extremely high technical requirements for the system, which made it necessary to develop an actually new system, including a new combat module with 2A38 30-mm guns, new 57E6-E antiaircraft missiles with an expanded 18-km maximum range, and new surveillance and target tracking/missile guidance radars. In May of 2000, the Tula Instrument Design Bureau signed a contract with the UAE government for $734 million (50 percent of which went to paying the Russian government debt to the Emirates) to develop and deliver 50 Pantsir-S1 systems (24 for the KamAZ-6350 four-axle wheel chassis and 26 for the GM-352M1E tracked chassis). To conduct the required R&D, the UAE paid Russia $100 million in advance.
The initial deadlines were missed due to R&D problems, so an additional contract was signed in 2003, committing the UAE to pay another $66 million and providing an extension of the delivery date to 2007-2009. Thus, the total value of the contract rose to $800 million. In the end, the new system began live testing in the spring of 2006 and was presented to the UAE military at the end of 2006, with the delivery of the first 12 serial systems planned for the end of 2008. Another 24 systems will be transferred to the customer in 2009, and a further 14 systems in 2010.
In spite of the difficulties, the job was successful in the end, and the UAE received the most advanced short-range air-defense system in the world. In addition, the Tula Instrument Design Bureau was able to conclude contracts worth $1.8 billion for deliveries of Pantsyr-S1 systems to Syria and Algeria. The Russian Armed Forces have also renewed their interest in this system, and plan to acquire a significant number of units.
Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar
Russia’s military-industrial cooperation with these three countries has not developed broadly. In our view, this is due to the almost complete orientation of the local political and military elites toward the West, and the absence of any serious political stimulus toward the development of relations with Russia, including in the military sphere. The US and the UK continue to dominate the three states as the main suppliers of arms. The unresolved issue of the Russian debt to Qatar poses an additional complication.
Saudi Arabia
Like Kuwait and the UAE, Saudi Arabia has shown the greatest interest in the acquisition of Russian tank technology. Over the last few years Rosoboroneksport has been conducting negotiations on the possible sale of 150 T-90S main battle tanks. President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Saudi Arabia in February of 2007 included discussions on military-technical cooperation. The main points of discussion included the possible delivery of 150 T-90S tanks for $1 billion, as well as a batch of BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers (probably the BTR-80A).
This deal would have a greater importance than the recent megacontracts with Venezuela ($3 billion) and Algeria (over $7 billion), because it would not only crack open the biggest market in the world but also give Russia’s relations with the most important Islamic state a new dimension, including on security matters. However, to date the contract has not been signed.
It has also been reported that Saudi Arabia is interested in the S-300PMU-2 (SA-20) and S-400 (SA-21) SAM systems, the Tor-M1 (SA-15) and Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22) air-defense system, the Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters, and special forces armaments. However, one must presume that the path toward concluding any such deliveries to Saudi Arabia will be long and difficult for Russia.
Summary
The total value of contracts for the delivery of Russian arms to the states of the CCASG can be estimated at $3.6 billion, of which the UAE accounts for $2.5 billion and Kuwait for $1 billion, with no more than $100 million going to the remaining four countries. These are relatively insignificant sums, and the role of Russian arms in this important market is decreasing.
But although Russian deliveries to these states account for only 5 percent of the total Russian arms exports over the past 15 years, the market is important for political reasons and due to the high purchasing power of the CCASG states. Sales to the region are highly profitable, and the prestige value of sales to the respectable, Western oriented «oil monarchies» is very high. Kuwait and the UAE purchased the most advanced Russian defense system in volumes that were critical to the survival of the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant and the Tula Instrument Design Bureau. The creation of the Pantsyr-S1 by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau, financed by the UAE, was uniquely valuable to Russia, allowing for the creation of a cardinally new type of armament for both exportation and internal military use.
Russia’s position as a supplier of arms to the countries of the CCASG is at a critical juncture. The best-case scenario would see large-scale commissions from Kuwait and the UAE, as well as a historical breakthrough to the defense market of Saudi Arabia. Agreements to create an air-defense system for the UAE on the basis of the S-400 air-defense missile system, to modernize the BMP-3 already purchased by the UAE and Kuwait, the acquisition by Gulf States of modern Russian supersonic antiship missiles, and the purchase by Saudi Arabia of T-90S tanks, BMP-3s, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, and Russian air-defense systems would be key to Russian success in this area.
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