Qatar signs 3-billion-euro military helicopter deal with Italy

Qatar and Italy have signed a 3-billion-euro deal for the sale of 28 military helicopters to Doha amid a diplomatic rift in the Persian Gulf region, which pits a Saudi-led quartet of states against Qatar.

The pact for the NH90 helicopters was announced by Qatar’s Defense Ministry at a military hardware conference in Doha on Wednesday.

Italian aerospace and defense group Leonardo (LDOF.MI) will act as the main contractor in the deal, although it was officially signed with the NHI consortium, which also includes Airbus and Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.

Leonardo said in a statement that under the deal, the consortium would supply 28 medium sized twin-engine NH90 military helicopters in its two variants for land and naval missions, and for support, maintenance and training services.

It said that a further 12 units could be added to the deal and that the first deliveries would take place before June 2022 and would continue until 2025.

Also on Wednesday, Qatar announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with US defense contractor Raytheon covering the area of cyber security.

Doha has recently signed security agreement with the NATO military alliance, enabling forces with the military alliance to enter and transit the Persian Gulf state and use its al-Ubeid Air Base, the largest US military base in the Middle East.

The deal is expected to facilitate NATO missions and operations in the region, including the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, a follow-on mission for the US-led forces who formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014.

PressTV-Qatar, NATO ink military cooperation deal

Qatar has signed a security agreement with NATO military alliance amid a diplomatic crisis between Doha and a Saudi-led quartet of Arab countries.

The agreements comes amid tensions in the Persian Gulf region, which erupted after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE severed their diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5 last year, accusing it of sponsoring “terrorism” and destabilizing the region, an allegation strongly denied by Doha.

The quartet of boycotters has also barred Qatari aircraft from using their airspace. Qatar’s only land border with Saudi Arabia has also been blocked as a result.

The Saudi-led bloc then presented Qatar with a list of demands, among them downgrading ties with Iran, and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences.

Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and said that they were meant to force the country to surrender its sovereignty.

Qatar has also said it had too many financial resources at its disposal to be afraid of the financial assault.

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