Military Industry

A picture taken on Feb. 21, 2020 shows M1 Abrams Fighting tanks of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, as US military equipment arrives to the Port of Bremerhaven the United States for the Defender 2020 international military exercises.

US green-lights $325 million in sustainment for Kuwait’s M1 Abrams tanks

The Trump administration has notified Congress of a $325 million arms sale to Kuwait for tank maintenance, part of broader efforts to strengthen Gulf defense ties and streamline US arms transfers.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

AI chips, drones, jets: A look at Trump's $3.2 trillion megadeals during Gulf trip

Amid photo ops and lavish receptions, President Donald Trump’s Gulf trip yielded $3.2 trillion in announced deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE — though some details remain vague.

A ferry passes a Turkish Navy submarine navigating the Bosphorus on Sept. 27, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Analysis

How Turkey’s nuclear submarine bid is a game changer for its naval strategy

Time, costs and international politics, not technological expertise, will be Turkey’s main challenge in reaching its aspirations for a nuclear-powered navy.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

US President Donald Trump walks toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, on March 28, 2025, in Washington.

After major arms sales, Trump to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar: What to know

The president is urging Gulf countries to increase their investment in the US after a series of bilateral economic and defense deals in recent months.

Latest News

Iran's IRGC unveils underground facility housing thousands of ballistic missiles

A pickup truck is carrying two Iranian missile mockups during a rally that marks the 46th anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 10, 2025.

US green lights $95 million in aid for Lebanon’s army

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam walks among Lebanese army soldiers as he visits the southern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on Feb. 28, 2025.

Iran’s IRGC says advanced warship joins naval fleet amid US tensions

The Martyr Rais Ali Delvari warship is unveiled during a ceremony in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on February 27, 2025. (Photo by DEFA Press news agency)

Analysis

Sudan, Russia reach 'understanding' on naval base but hurdles remain

A general view shows docked ships at the harbor of the Sudanese city of Port Sudan, on April 27, 2021.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

A Turkish Bayraktar TB2 combat drone is on view during a presentation at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Siauliai, Lithuania, on July 6, 2022. -

Turkey inks $321 million deal with Romania for Bayraktar military drones

Ukraine has had considerable success using the drone against Russia since Moscow's invasion last year.

Saudi fighter jets are displayed during Saudi Arabias first World Defense Show, north of the capital Riyadh, on March 6, 2022. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia rises to world's 5th largest military spender: SIPRI

The kingdom has risen from eighth to fifth place since 2021, surpassing the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi watches combat drones alongside high-ranking officials and commanders during a military parade marking the country's annual army day in Tehran on April 18, 2023.

Iran flaunts military hardware on Army Day as it threatens Israel

At a moment of escalating war of words, Iran's president said Israel will face destruction should it strike his country, which the Jewish state has long considered as an existential threat.

The US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla speaks at the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain's capital on November 19, 2022. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: April 12, 2023, 10:12 pm

CENTCOM eyeing artificial intelligence to counter Iran’s drones, says Kurilla

The top commander of US forces in the Middle East expressed concerns over China's inroads the region and told Al-Monitor he wants to turn up the heat at the next Red Sands exercise in Saudi Arabia to simulate more complex drone attacks.

Washington Connection

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (R) listen to explanations during their visit to the Black Sea Fleet's guards missile cruiser Moskva in the sea port of Sochi on August 12, 2014 during the Egyptian leader's first official visit to Russia. AFP PHOTO / RIA NOVOSTI / KREMLIN POOL / ALEXEI DRUZHININ (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ / RIA NOVOSTI / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/RIA NOVOSTI/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt denies report it planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia

Moscow has also denied the claims that President Sisi ordered the military to secretly ship the rockets to Russia.

Egyptian officers monitor as fellow crewmembers unload pallets containing food sent by Egypt for people displaced during ethnic clashes in the Blue Nile State, from a plane at a military base in the capital Khartoum, on August 4, 2022. - Ethnic clashes in a deadly land dispute that erupted in Sudan's Blue Nile state in July have killed 105 people and wounded 291, according to the state's health minister. Fighting broke out in the southern state which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan on July 11 between membe

Egypt, Sudan hold joint military drills as Nile dispute with Ethiopia drags on

The naval drills come at a time of heightened tensions with Ethiopia as Addis Ababa works toward completing the filling of its controversial Nile dam without reaching an agreement with its downstream neighbors.

The national flags of Saudi Arabia (R) and China are displayed from a road lamp at Tiananmen square in Beijing on February 21, 2019. - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is on a visit to China from February 21 to 22. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudis joining Shanghai Cooperation Organization as China bromance blossoms

Russia, China and a number of former Soviet states in Central Asia created the SCO in 2001 to counter US hegemony in the region.

An F-16 pilot from an airbase in Saudi Arabia gets ready to disembark from his aircraft after he was diverted to Kuwait because of bad weather after his mission into Iraq March 26, 2003 as Operation Iraqi Freedom continues after a pause in the air campaign due to bad weather. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt rank among world’s top 10 arms importers: SIPRI

Middle East countries made up more than a fourth of the top 40 global arms importers from 2018 to 2022, according to a new report.

Russia's Rosoboronexport displayed more than 200 combat-tested weapons at an isolated pavilion.

UAE's IDEX weapons fair brings in Russia, China, and billion-dollar deals

The United Arab Emirates’ defense expenditure amounted to $22.5 billion last year and is expected to reach $28.6 billion by 2027.

Doosan Mobility Innovation's DS30W hydrogen fuel cell drone is displayed at CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 6, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How Israel’s HevenDrones latest hydrogen-powered drone can help UAE

The lightweight aerial vehicle for defense or commercial use is the latest fruit of diplomatic normalization between the two countries, and will be featured at IDEX next week.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) drill held by the Iranian army in Semnan, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2021.

Iran intel official says China in line to buy Tehran's drones

Despite growing Western alarm over the Islamic Republic's drone shipments to Russia, the Iranian official said 90 countries were "queuing up" for purchases of the same products.

Sabaa Thnaibat, Jordan's first ever female F-16 pilot, making her first solo tour on Wednesday. (Photo credit: Jordanian Royal Forces)

Jordan's first female F-16 pilot celebrated as 'hero'

Jordanian women are playing an increasingly prominent role in the country’s military, though challenges remain. There have been notable female air force pilots in other countries throughout the Middle East as well.