Rockets fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza City are intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome defence missile system in the early hours of October 8, 2023. (Photo by EYAD BABA / AFP) (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
BEIRUT — In my first year as a full-time reporter at Breaking Defense, there was no shortage of news in the Middle East. Then, before the year could end, the region was set ablaze with Oct. 7 Gaza attack which resulted in a war, dwarfing any other defense efforts and development in the region.
As the war reaches the three-month mark, the conflict has reverberated throughout the region, the fear of the violence spreading to south Lebanon, where the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has fought in several skirmishes, or further.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2023 and look forward to what 2024 may hold.]
The conflict put a pause on one of the biggest stories of the year, the approaching normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, though analysts told Breaking Defense in the early days of the Israel-Gaza war that normalization would likely continue after things die down.
Digging deeply into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi’s other strategic moves in 2023, one thing that can be said is: Opposites attract. From a surprising agreement to restore diplomatic relationships with Iran, to taking command of two US-led Task Forces, to the lifting of an Italian embargo on defense exports to Riyadh, and finally to defense rapprochement with Turkey, KSA is maintaining relationships with as many countries as it can, even those historically at odds with each other.
On the technological level, Riyadh this year pushed its defense industry heavily to indigenous production, with an ambitious plan for Saudi Arabia Military Industries to become a top 25 defense firm, and a large deal to produce Turkish Baykar Akinci drones in the Kingdom.
Saudi’s neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, this year continued its trend steadily on the expansion plans of its defense conglomerate EDGE Group, not least of which the large budge to buy stakes in already established European firms and crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Latin America, with Brazil’s market taking central stage of EDGE’s attention.
In line with its localization plans, UAE cancelled an approximately one billion dollar deal with French Airbus, and is looking elsewhere for better technology transfer offers. The country announced plans to establish the first MBDA missile center outside Europe. Additionally, EDGE Group, the UAE’s sprawling defense conglomerate, turned four years old in 2023, and had the lion’s share of announcements in the two large shows it hosts: Dubai Airshow and IDEX. The firm is also intertwining its tech with those of its international partners, integrating its missiles with the US-made MQ-9B drone, and French Rafale and Indian HAL Tejas fighter jets.
Turkey, one of the most advanced defense producers in the Middle East surpassed drone production to developing its fifth generation fighter, naval vessel production and submarine production. This was evident on the IDEF 2023 show floor.
Ankara’s defense exports, mainly led by land systems, increased in 2023. One gap, however, remains for Turkey to fill — new fourth generation fighter jets to fly before the fifth-gen KAAN to see light.
On the opposite side of the Arabian Gulf, Iran reached its own milestones in defense procurement and production. Tehran remains the biggest concern of the US and its allies in the region. In the second rank of concern, comes China’s relationship with Middle East countries.
Meanwhile, Iraq in 2023 prioritized air defense systems in its procurement list, and Qatar announced plans to boost its naval capabilities with a multi-billion-dollar deal with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.
Last but not least, Lebanon with its modest defense spending has been struggling not only with what is happening on its southern border with Israel, but also economic crisis and corruption. But small rays of hope were always present in 2023, from new vessels received as part of the US military aid, to Resolute Union drills and the rebuilding Beirut naval base that was destructed during the Port Explosion is still on the military’s dream list.
