Eurofighter, Rafale and F-15QA Not Enough? Qatar Files Official Request For F-35A Stealth Jets

The Persian Gulf monarchy of Qatar, a longstanding Western defence client and military partner, has filed a formal request to acquire Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters from  the United States. Qatar has invested very heavily in modernising its formerly meagre air force over the past five years, placing major orders for 36 each of the Eurofighter Typhoon, French Dassault Rafale and the elite American heavyweight F-15QA Eagle fighters. Although Qatar was previously considering placing a followup order for 36 more F-15QAs, which are considered the most advanced Western twin engine fighters to have flown to this day, the possibility of acquiring the F-35 could end interest in the Eagles. Qatari interest comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his administration "would have no problem with" selling the F-35 to American defence clients in the Persian Gulf, highlighting the benefits of revenues from such weapons sales for the U.S. economy. The U.S. State Department refused to confirm or deny that an F-35 deal was under discussion, stating that it would not do so before the offer was formally presented to Congress.

The F-35A first entered service in the U.S. Air Force in 2015, and was designed as a lighter and cheaper counterpart to the more costly twin engine F-22 Raptor with widespread exports in mind. As the U.S. comes closer to fielding heavyweight sixth generation fighters which will succeed the F-22, exports of the F-35 are expected to become less sensitive meaning more clients can acquire the jets. The security risk of exporting the F-35 remains slim, particularly to states with more limited intelligence capabilities such as Qatar, as the aircraft are heavily reliant on both components and software from the U.S. and have even been found to spy on their operators and send sensitive information back to America. F-35s sold to Qatar and Arab states, much like those previously intended for sale to Turkey, are expected to have heavily downgraded capabilities relative to those provided to Israel and to Western countries - although they will not be any less costly to acquire.

It is likely that Washington will seek to press for a larger contract to sell the fighters to Qatar, possibly for 72 jets or more which would be worth over $13 billion depending on the details. The F-35’s advanced stealth capabilities, and ongoing tensions between Qatar and other Gulf States such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, could lead its neighbours to place even larger orders for the fighter and ultimately provide tens of billions of dollars in revenues for Lockheed Martin’s largest weapons program. These funds will not only make production of the F-35 more efficient, but will also be used for research and development to further improve the stealth fighter and thus strengthen the aerial warfare capabilities of the U.S. and its allies.