Introduction
Qatar is a hereditary monarchy headed by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. It is an authoritarian state characterised by strict judicial constraints on freedom of expression and poor rule of law. While there is a Consultative Assembly with some powers, in practice, “Qatar’s hereditary emir holds all executive and legislative authority and ultimately controls the judiciary”, according to Freedom House. Political parties are not permitted, and security services operate with impunity; detainees are subject to beatings and torture. Qatar is heavily reliant on the labour of the migrants who make up 80-90% of its total population; a great many of them are employed under a kafala system in conditions of forced labour. This situation that was thrown into stark relief during Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, which involved thousands of unexplained migrant deaths and illegal wage and recruitment practices.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June 2017 after accusing it of destabilising the region with its support for Islamist groups. Qatar denied the claim. The diplomatic crisis lasted two years until relations were restored in January 2021 ahead of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regional summit. Qatar is a major military ally of the UK and US, discussed below.
Qatar’s arms suppliers
Qatar was the world’s third largest arms importer between 2015 and 2024, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Its main suppliers in that period were the United States (48%), France (19%), Italy (14%) and the UK (11%).
The US is Qatar’s most important military ally and Qatar is vital to US security interests in the region, to the extent that the White House announced that “it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack” in September 2025. In October 2025, US President Trump announced a record-breaking deal to sell Qatar’s national airline up to 210 jets (made by Boeing). He received a US$ 400 million luxury jet in return, The Guardian reports. As part of the agreement, Qatar agreed to invest US$ 10 billion in a US military facility and purchase US$ 42 billion in American weapons. A new training base for the Qatari air force in the US state of Idaho has also been announced. In 2022, the US State Department agreed that Qatar could purchase 10 defensive drone systems, 200 interceptors and related equipment; Raytheon and Northrup Grumman would be the primary contractors.
From France, Qatar has received Dassault Rafale fighter jets (first in 2016), and armoured vehicles such as the AMX 30 from Nexter. From Italy, Qatar has received H90 Nato Frigate Helicopters from Leonardo.
The UK and Qatar
Qatar is a significant military and diplomatic ally of the UK, despite serious human rights concerns. It is “one of the UK’s closest partners in the Gulf region and one of the first places that Defence Secretary John Healey MP visited after his appointment,” notes an October 2024 government press release. The UK hosts an annual Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue, the first of which was held in February 2023 and in 2022, the two governments signed a Strategic Investment Partnership to increase Qatari investment in the UK by up to UK£ 10 billion.
Beyond the significant investments in the UK that its government hopes Qatar will make, Qatar’s tight relationship with the UK also stems from its role as a prominent member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional alliance promoting security cooperation, and its role as a counter-terrorism ally. UK trade with members of the GCC amounted to UK£ 57 billion a year and the region is the single largest UK market for arms. The UK government’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review noted that “Joint Air Squadrons with Qatar are central to bilateral collaboration, with the potential to expand into land and other domains.” This joint UK/Qatari squadron was set up in 2021 to allow personnel from both air forces to train together, in a demonstration of the UK’s “strong and enduring… defence relationship with Qatar,” according to then-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP. BAE Systems was a contract to deliver support and training to the new UK-Qatar Hawk squadron based at RAF Leeming. Qatari cadets regularly train at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, from which the Qatari Emir also graduated. UK Royal Military police have also trained the Close Protection Unit to the Qatar Amiri Guard.
UK presence in the region in part depends on Qatar’s cooperation. The Royal Air Force’s Middle East operations headquarters is at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, also home to America’s air operations in the region. From there, RAF’s No 83 Expeditionary Air Group provides command and control support to the 4 Expeditionary Air Wings supporting UK operations, including strikes against Islamic State in Syria.
Qatar enjoys a high level of access to UK Parliamentarians. In 2022, the Guardian revealed that Qatar has spent more money on gifts and trips for British MPs in the past year than any other country; that year, Qatar had been engaged in a lobbying effort to counteract human rights concerns over its hosting of the FIFA World Cup.
UK arms sales
The UK government arms sales department, Defence & Security Exports, has identified Qatar as a “key market,” despite its human rights record. As such, Qatar has benefitted from significant sales of UK-made arms and equipment.
The UK has sold 24 Eurofighter Typhoons and nine BAE Systems Hawk fighter jets to Qatar. This deal was underwritten by UK£ 4.5 billion export credit guarantees, that is, UK government assurance that BAE would be paid if Qatar defaulted on payment. This was despite a letter from UKEF’s Chief Accounting Officer warning that this breached normal risk limits. In 2019, 46% of UKEF’s liabilities were for military exports.
In December 2024, Qatar stated its intention to buy a further 12 Eurofighters in December 2024. However, at the time of writing (October 2025), it does not appear that a firm contract has been signed.
According to SIPRI data, between 2018 and 2022 MBDA UK exported Meteor and ASRAAM missiles Qatar. British defence and security company QinetiQ also engaged in a joint venture with Qatari group, Barzan Holdings, chaired in 2021 by the Qatari defence minister. Called BQ Solutions, the venture’s primary clients appear to be Qatari military agencies.
Qatar & arms fairs
The UK government has often invited Qatar to send staff to visit UK arm’s fairs to purchase new equipment. A Qatari delegation attended Security and Policing for the past three years, and Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2025. Qatar hosts a Middle East region version of the Milipol defence and security fair, Milipol Qatar, every two years since 2012, most recently in 2024. Fourteen UK companies including BAE Systems attended.
Corruption allegations
BAE Systems was part of a consortium which won a record UK£ 500 million deal to sell military hardware, including Hawk aircraft, to Qatar in 1996. A UK£ 7 million commission was alleged to have been paid into three Jersey trust funds under the control of Qatar’s then Foreign Minister. A criminal investigation began in Jersey in 2000 but ended in 2002 on public interest grounds. The Qatari Foreign Minister denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay Jersey UK£ 6 million for perceived damage.
In 2004, the UK Serious Fraud Office began investigating claims of corruption involving BAE and several countries, including Qatar. The SFO clearly stopped its inquiry into Qatar at some point, as it ceased to mention it. However, the SFO refused to say when it ended.
