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What Countries in the Middle East Have NASAMS, and How Many Complexes From There Can Get to Ukraine

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NASAMS air defense system / illustrative photo from open sources
NASAMS air defense system / illustrative photo from open sources

The USA is going for non-standard solutions to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons

Politico, citing Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes, reported that the White House wants to take NASAMS systems in the Middle East for Ukraine. The goal of such an action is to speed up the delivery of new air defense systems for the country to 3-6 months instead of the standard 24-36 months.

Read more: Ukraine’s Defense Forces Conduct Military Exercises to Be Ready to Protect Statte Border with Belarus (Video)

A specific list of possible "donor" countries of air defense systems for Ukraine was not disclosed. But Politico journalists pointed out that among the countries of the Middle East, the owners of NASAMS are Qatar and Oman. The number of available systems is currently unknown.

If you work with open sources, you can find something. In particular, The Military Balance 2022 guide indicates that Oman has at its disposal two divisions of NASAMS systems, the number of launchers is not disclosed.

NASAMS air defense system, Which Countries in the Middle East Have NASAMS, and How Many Complexes From There Can Get to Ukraine, Defense Express
NASAMS air defense system / Illustrative photo from open sources

In the case of Qatar, The Military Balance 2022 indicates that this country does not have the NASAMS systems in service yet, with the first deliveries expected to begin in 2023.

Data on the cost of the contract and how many air defense systems Qatar ordered are currently unavailable, but it is known that AMRAAM-ER medium-range missiles were also included with the launchers.

Based on this information, it can be concluded that the Qatar NASAMS systems should soon come off the production line. It seems that it is the very anti-aircraft missile systems that the White House wants to "expeditedly" transfer to Ukraine. It seems that the USA "sent messengers" to the Middle East precisely in order for Qatar to allow him to be "moved in line".

It is quite possible that in Qatar they may not immediately agree to the offer to "give up the queue". Doha has been waiting for its NASAMS for almost four years - the contract for their delivery was concluded in 2019. By the way, Oman had to wait a long time for the production of these systems too - the contract was signed in 2013, and the country received its NASAMS in 2018 in fact.

In such a way the example with the "messengers" to the Middle East once again demonstrates what non-standard decisions the White House is forced to make in order to speed up the delivery of the necessary weapons to Ukraine.

As Defense Express reported, US Sending Ukraine Another $400M in New Security Aid Providing anti-UAV Machine Guns, Ammunition for HIMARS, NASAMS and More.

Read more: ​Ukraine’s General Staff Operational Report: Defense Forces Made 22 Strikes on russia’s Troops, Shot Down Enemy Su-25 aircraft, Orlan-10 UAV