The ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) strained as the Emirati kingdom forged closer relations with China. However, the UAE appears to be changing course under pressure from Washington.
The UAE and the United States have partnered to drive global advances in artificial intelligence (A.I.), following months of pressure exerted by Washington on the United Arab Emirates to withdraw its investments in Chinese tech companies, Hong Kong-based publication South China Morning Post reported.
The agreement was formalized last week. Under these guidelines, state-owned Emirati I.T. companies will refrain from forming alliances with Chinese artificial intelligence firms that the U.S. has highlighted as potential security risks.
This development comes amid Washington’s expansion of military presence in the Middle East and its desire to play a more prominent role in the region.
Additionally, U.S. President Joe Biden has recognized the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a “major defense partner,” deepening military ties despite ‘frictions.’ The UAE is only the second country to get that designation, after India.
The cooperation looks promising, and experts believe reinvigorated ties between the U.S. and UAE could again ‘open up’ the sale of F-35 stealth fighters.
Earlier this month, citing some unknown sources from the UAE, a Reuters exclusive report stated if Donald Trump was elected to a second term in office in November, the United Arab Emirates would try to resurrect a multibillion-dollar contract with the United States for F-35 jets and combat drones.
The appeal of F-35 stealth fighters has grown recently throughout Europe, particularly since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and reintroduced conventional warfare to the continent.
So far, 19 countries have signed agreements to purchase the F-35, with Greece becoming its latest buyer in July 2024. Italy has also expressed a willingness to buy additional F-35 fighter jets.
The manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, has repeatedly emphasized the F-35’s role as the cornerstone of NATO’s air power. However, while becoming a mainstay of NATO’s air power and enjoying an impeccable reputation worldwide, the UAE rejected this cutting-edge stealth aircraft after ‘tiring negotiations.’
Former President Donald Trump authorized the deal in the final days of his presidency. However, the UAE halted negotiations at the end of 2021 after failing to reach an agreement with the Biden administration. In late 2021, the Emirati kingdom surprised everyone by placing a historic order for 80 Rafale fighter jets and canceling F-35 negotiations.
The Reuters report, citing three different sources, said the UAE would want to start negotiations again and ask the new government to carry out the original agreement if Donald Trump were to be re-elected.
However, little over 24 hours after this report, a senior UAE government official told the media that the kingdom had no intention of resuming negotiations with the U.S. to purchase F-35 fighter jets.
“Our position remains unchanged, and we do not anticipate discussions regarding the F-35 being reopened for the foreseeable future, irrespective of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections,” the senior UAE official said in a statement.
Elaborating on the issues, the official said: “Technical requirements, sovereign operational restrictions, and cost/benefit analysis led to the reassessment at that time, and those considerations underpin our ongoing position.”
Legally, potential U.S. arms sales to Middle Eastern countries are prohibited from including equipment or technology that could dent Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region.
Israel strongly opposes the sale of F-35s to any state other than itself in the wider Middle Eastern region. According to reports, assurances given to Tel Aviv helped overcome this obstacle; however, the UAE’s then-strengthening ties with China may have been a deal-breaker.
The relationship between the U.S. and UAE deteriorated, particularly after Abu Dhabi allowed China’s Huawei to participate in 5G trials despite strong lobbying from Washington.
This was a pressing concern for the U.S. because setting up the mobile phone network with cell towers close to F-35 bases could enable China to track and gather information about the F-35s.
Daniel Mouton, a former U.S. National Security Council official now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, was quoted as saying that China was also considering establishing a military facility in the UAE. The move raised concerns because it could result in possible spying.
Despite the UAE’s retort that it had a history of protecting U.S. military technology, negotiations fell apart. The UAE emphasized that it operated US-supplied F-16s and had not compromised its technology.
However, experts believe that the agreement may have been contingent on the Emirati kingdom’s need to change the dynamics of its relations with China. The Emiratis may have decided that downgrading ties with China was too high a cost to pay for F-35 fighter jets.
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Additionally, the U.S. has also often cited the UAE’s role in war crimes in Libya and its campaign against Yemen as a reason for its dilly-dallying on the sale of high-end military equipment, like the F-35.
According to some analysts, this caused the Emirati kingdom to become resentful of the U.S. for imposing terms on the nation. The affluent kingdom also stated that the aircraft was exorbitantly priced.
Though the U.S. has repeatedly stated that a potential F-35 deal is still on the table, the recent statement by the UAE indicates that the kingdom may have indeed rejected the aircraft and moved on.
Now that the UAE has ‘downgraded’ its ties with China and the possibility of Donald Trump triumphing in the U.S. elections, will the F-35s be back in the reckoning for the UAE?
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