UK-Qatari Joint Hawk Squadron marks continued investment in UK defense market, says GlobalData

Following the news that the UK and Qatar are launching a Joint Hawk Training Squadron based at RAF Leeming in Yorkshire to train Qatari Emiri Air Force (QEAF) and RAF pilots in the new Hawk trainer jets;Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, comments:

“The news from the MoD this evening demonstrates the Middle East’s continued interest in the UK defense market, and this is indeed a very important customer for the UK. According to UK government figures Middle Eastern states accounted for 58% of UK defense exports between 2011 and 2020, with much of this spending based around the sale of aircraft to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.

“The UK defense industry will benefit from sizeable investments in British weaponry from Middle Eastern states; a solid trading relationship has the potential to be very lucrative for Britain. The Middle East has no sizable domestic defense aviation industry and with Qatar selecting the UK over larger markets such as the US and France shows a significant trust in the UKs industry base.

“The creation of the training squadron further deepens the relationship between the RAF and the QEAF.”

Further details of UK’s defense landscape will be published in GlobalData’s latest report, ‘UK Defense Market – Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts to 2026’, which is due to be released in December 2021.

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