The US is the largest arms dealer in the world and one of the major weapons purchaser is Saudi Arabia who has recently increased their weapons imports greatly. The US has sold hundreds of billions of dollars of weaponry to Saudi Arabia in recent decades, and has signed arms deals of $14.5 billion in 2017 alone. But how many weapons does the US sell to Saudi Arabia, and why?
Throughout the past 15 years, the US has approved more than $477.2 billion in Defence Department-approved foreign military sales (FM) to Saudi Arabia. In 2020, the US reached approved a deal of $1.8 Billion for the sale of Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod- Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) to Riyadh, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).The largest chunk of this spending is on air defence systems, totalling in $238.5 billion, and espionage equipment, racking up $50.2 billion, with other smaller chunks being spent on armoured vehicles, logistics, bombs, drones, and more.
The US weapons supplied to the Saudi regime have been used in multiple controversial campaigns, such as the war in Yemen and the slaughter of journalists, dissidents and activists like Jamal Khashoggi.The United Nations (UN) Security Council has noted that these massacres may constitute a war crime.To this day Saudi Arabia uses American weapons for their regional conflicts, which have provoked American human rights groups to heavily criticise the US government for their inaction in light of such violations.
The US government and the Saudis have a long-standing defence agreement, as the US believes it’s necessary to continue this relationship to ensure stability in the Middle East.American think-tanks have long assumed that increased weapons in the Saudi armed forces are necessary to deter attacks from the Iranian regime, and therefore have heavily supported the US arms sales.
Critics point to the fact that these weapons have often been used in harmful ways, and argue that the amount is too high and the US government should be more responsible in monitoring how the weapons are used by the Saudis.However, it should be noted that the US is also selling weapons around the world, to countries such as China and India and have provided arms to regimes that have carried out comparable human rights abuses, such as Turkey and Egypt.
US Arms Sales as International Leverage
What this arms sales agreement has done is made Saudi Arabia one of the US’s top allies in the region, giving the US leverage to pursue its geopolitical objectives in the Middle East. The US has made it clear it will continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia so long as the country continues to stay friendly to American interests.
The US has used the weapons sales agreement with the Saudis to gain diplomatic concessions, such as when it suspended the sales of smart bombs in 2019, in order to secure a ceasefire in Yemen. In 2020, the US announced that it would suspend all sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in order to support negotiations between the two countries. This decision was seen as a major move by the Biden administration.
The majority of experts agree that while increased arm sales to Saudi Arabia has given the US leverage and influence, this move has been costly and reckless, and the US government should reconsider if these weapons will be used for destabilising actions in the region.
Saudi Arabia Buying Weapons from Other Countries
With the US reduction in arms sales, Saudi Arabia has been increasingly turning to other arms suppliers. Israel and the United Arab Emirates have recently become two of Saudi Arabia’s biggest weapons suppliers. Saudi Arabia has signed multi-billion dollar weapons deals with the UAE worth more than $2.5 billion and deals worth more than $1billion with Israel in 2020.
The UAE and Israel have also been able to provide the Saudis with weapons systems that the US has so far been reluctant to sell, such as ballistic missile defence systems. Saudi Arabia also purchased other advanced weapons systems from the US, such as the F-35 fighter jet, the CH-47F Chinook helicopters, and the AI-THOR robotic combat vehicle.
In addition to the US-supplied weapons, Riyadh also buys weapons from countries such as Russia, France, Spain and China.Riyadh has placed orders with Beijing amount to $10.3 billion worth of arms sales, including attack helicopters, light attack planes, air defence missile systems and submarines.
Implications of US Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia
The US arms sales to Saudi Arabia have created a complex geopolitical situation. US weapons have enabled the Saudis to maintain their regional hegemonic ambitions, and the US has lost leverage over Saudi Arabia as the kingdom turns to other countries such as China and Israel for arms.Additionally, the US has been criticised for its involvement in the war in Yemen, which some experts argue has helped to fuel the humanitarian crisis.
The US government has also been criticised by its own citizens for not doing enough to push for an end to human rights violations in the kingdom and many have argued that increased economic pressure on Saudi Arabia, such as ending arms sales, would be an effective way to achieve this.
Weapons sales from the US and other countries have significant implications for regional politics and ongoing conflicts. The US should ensure that it is not selling weapons to countries that can use them to carry out human rights abuses or wreak havoc in other countries and in the future take a more responsible approach to arms sales.
US Weapons Deals Affect Global Arms Groups
The arms industry has become a major global business with big and small companies around the world participating. US weapons deals have seen many private companies pile on the bandwagon, with arms giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon emerging as major players in the US-Saudi deal.
The United Nations (UN) has noted that the proliferation of arms has been on the rise, with many countries offering weapons to countries like Saudi Arabia that use them to carry out human rights abuses. The US is one of the major suppliers of arms and has been criticised for not doing enough to control the arms industry and ensure that arms are not used in violation of international humanitarian law.
Arms groups have also raised concerns over the US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, noting that the US should have done more to ensure that the weapons it is selling will not be used in violation of international humanitarian law.The US should take into account the humanitarian and legal implications of its actions and take greater responsibility for its weapons sales and look into ways to better regulate the arms industry.
Greater US Oversight Needed to Monitor Weapons Uses
Exercising greater oversight over the US arms industry to ensure that it is not selling weapons that can be used in violation of international laws is a much needed step. US companies should be held accountable to ensure that arms are not being used for human rights abuses and that the US is not fuelling regional conflicts. Even if the US is not empirically present in armed conflicts, increased arms sales from the US to a country involved in those conflicts will ultimately have an effect.
Increased oversight and regulation of weapons sales would also have a greater impact on global security. It is essential that governments around the world take a serious look at the nuclear and non-nuclear arms industries and better regulate the proliferation of arms. The US should lead by example, and work towards greater oversight and transparency regarding the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia and other countries.
Conclusion
Due to the longstanding defense agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia, the US has sold billions of worth of weapons to the kingdom, while the Saudis have continued to use such weapons in controversial campaigns in the region. The US, in turn, has used these weapons sales to gain diplomatic concessions from the Saudis, however, this arms sale agreement has caused critics to accuse the US of fuelling the conflicts in the region. The US government should exercise greater oversight and regulation to ensure that weapons are not being used for human rights abuses and better regulate the nuclear and non-nuclear arms industries.
