What is Qatar doing?

They’re cashing in on political capital. This spending spree has little to do with defense. Like it was stated earlier, the QEAF would take years to become operational to combat readiness on the new equipment. The Qatari government is spreading money all around the world to influence their position in the world, politically.

The current tiny air force is reliant on contractors from other countries, including Pakistani pilots. Just buying 100 aeroplanes from miscellaneous sources will not create a meaningful air force, there are other elements to think of too.

Currently it looks like protection money to US, France and UK, however I suspect Turks might come to the rescue to help Qatar air force, given the current situation in mid east.

Tbh, i know a security officer presently eatihng his hat. There are real issues to deliver security clearances to so many newly qatari ppl…

er, Rafale there is 36 signed orders and option for 36 more, in fact. If they sign for the second batch, that would be 72 rafales

That’s the current status. The EF’s deal is similar to the one signed for the Rafale last year (24+12).

I don’t understand the thought process of buying three different twin engine heavy fighters from three different countries? If Qatar wants political influence through arms purchases then buy aircraft/helicopters from one country, ships/submarines from another country, and air defense/ground equipment from the third country. That seems a lot more balanced then buying three different twin engine fighters that all fill the same role.

Fighter jets are the most manpower-light capital-intensive investments one can make in defence. Going from 12 Mirages to 100 odd aircraft over a period of 5-7 years isn’t that big a challenge (relatively speaking). They’d need to train a 100-120 odd pilots with most of the maintenance element being contracted out to the OEM.

Alternatively, they could remain understaffed and put the aircraft back on the market in 10-15 years time. India would very likely be interested in surplus Rafales, with probably South Korea & Japan being viable options to offload the F-15Qs.

Now if they had decided to spend $ 8 billion on naval vessels, they’d have found themselves having to operate a fleet of 10-12 frigates or submarines. That’s a massive jump up from the half a dozen 500 ton FACs they operate today. They’d need to build a entire new naval base to accommodate them while facing even more serious manpower challenges – recruiting officers to fly fighter jets from the airbase next door is far simpler than recruiting sailors & technicians to go out to sea for weeks at end while being paid a significantly lower wage.

Similar problem with air defence/ground equipment. Operating it is by-and-large a blue collar job. Which makes their purchase less than ideal for a country where blue collar jobs are performed by immigrant/expat workers.

Precisely what djcross said.

What does Russia buy from Katar to have an intrest to lower its debts by military sales?! Katar is not intrested in ground forces posing a constant danger to the regime.

Russia does not need to buy anything from katar to squeeze money out of it.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-qatar-military/qatar-russia-sign-agreements-on-air-defense-supplies-idUSKBN1CV11E
Qatar, Russia sign agreements on air defense, supplies

Well if they can fund Sudan better its good for Russian exports. previously Sudan was funded well by Saudis but we have to see what role Sudan airforce play.

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article64352
Sudan, Russia and Qatar hold military discussions in Khartoum

Qatar is a city state with a local citizenry only around 300,000 strong, most of whom live very comfortable (and decidedly non-martial) lives. If its GCC neighbours decided to roll up at the door, there is little the govt can do to prevent it from being absorbed into the Saudi state. And given Qatar’s resources, it’d be a rather profitable invasion.

But through these deals, influential Western states (along with Turkey and others) have been given a strong business interest in the continued survival of the Qatari state. Keep in mind, all these aircraft ordered will be delivered over the next 5-10 years. In the meantime, if the incumbent regime is overthrown, these contracts are likely to be torn up or at least heavily “renegotiated” by the new establishment.

Persuasive perception.

I don’t understand the thought process of buying three different twin engine heavy fighters from three different countries? If Qatar wants political influence through arms purchases then buy aircraft/helicopters from one country, ships/submarines from another country, and air defense/ground equipment from the third country. That seems a lot more balanced then buying three different twin engine fighters that all fill the same role.

I’m baffled, too.

They are running out of Western systems to order so ordering some Russian or Chinese systems, either aircraft or ground equipment, does not seem outside the realm of possibility. In fact, I think it is quite likely in the next year or two. Their Air-Defense deals with the US OEMs were to conclude in late 2014/early 2015 for the Patriot and involved something like 10-11 Patriot Units, along with 1000 or so Interceptors ( 700-800 PAC-3s and the remaining PAC-2s). They then signed a deal with Raytheon for the UEWR but the deal with Lockheed for THAAD (2 units with 150 or so interceptors) had not been completed as of mid 2016ish iirc. They also had a pending deal (announced/DSCA but never concluded) for the 737 AEW (E-7A) which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

^What about Anti air systems?

What does Russia buy from Katar to have an intrest to lower its debts by military sales?! Katar is not intrested in ground forces posing a constant danger to the regime.

It is easy to understand. Three different nations are three independent insurances, just in case one or two may drop out under Saudi pressure. Military relevance is nil, when not bought for political purposes. For example to be part of a coalition and add some military force to that. All the emirates are in constant danger to be absorbed by their bigger neighbors. See the example of Kuwait, when the own military was/is useless, whatever it fields.

Could Qatar order up Russian stuff come 2018?

thats a good point KGB.
given that Qatars enemies..the saudis and UAE are anti Russian.. Qatar should’ve considered Russian equipment.
Also agree with the others.. the spending doesn’t have to be exclusively aviation related. more ships, tanks, etc would’ve been good.
well not sure what their navy has.. their army already has some really top notch stuff. Leopard 2A7s, THAAD, etc.

The F-15 feels to dated for me.. For a non partisan air force, that would fill Russia, US, and Europe’s order books, Id go..

30x su 35 high mix multi roll
15x EF typhoon pure interceptor

20x F-16’s for low mix
15x su 34’s for strike

They do not care about logistical nightmare because they can afford to pay for the extortionate maintenance services to keep these machines airworthy. In any case they are not buying these fighters to protect the little kingdom (who will be flying them…qatari pilots?). It is a sort of protection money to save them from the rest of GCC. Remember President Trump’s comments at the start of GCC Qatar saga? And now the US is selling F-15s to that nation. MIC influence in action backed by geopolitics.

At one time even the F-15 deal was to be 72 aircraft strong.

er, Rafale there is 36 signed orders and option for 36 more, in fact. If they sign for the second batch, that would be 72 rafales

I don’t understand the thought process of buying three different twin engine heavy fighters from three different countries? If Qatar wants political influence through arms purchases then buy aircraft/helicopters from one country, ships/submarines from another country, and air defense/ground equipment from the third country. That seems a lot more balanced then buying three different twin engine fighters that all fill the same role.

Only 24 Eurofighters at the moment. 12 more are optional (similar to the Rafale deal).

I understand you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket but this seems like a financial disaster with training and logistics for three different types of fighters.

On the contrary, this is about wanting to curry political influence through arms purchases.

Qatar is a city state with a local citizenry only around 300,000 strong, most of whom live very comfortable (and decidedly non-martial) lives. If its GCC neighbours decided to roll up at the door, there is little the govt can do to prevent it from being absorbed into the Saudi state. And given Qatar’s resources, it’d be a rather profitable invasion.

But through these deals, influential Western states (along with Turkey and others) have been given a strong business interest in the continued survival of the Qatari state. Keep in mind, all these aircraft ordered will be delivered over the next 5-10 years. In the meantime, if the incumbent regime is overthrown, these contracts are likely to be torn up or at least heavily “renegotiated” by the new establishment.