25JUN

Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait buy drone defences

2 min read

14:30UTC

Raytheon won $729m to supply the US Army's counter-drone kit to Qatar and Jordan, and Kuwait bought a £370m system from MARSS, built in Bristol.

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ConflictAssessed

Key takeaway

Qatar and Jordan bought US Army counter-drone kit, while Kuwait added a £370m British system.

Qatar and Jordan will defend their bases with counter-drone kit from the US Army's own programme. Raytheon won $729m of contracts on 13 October for the Low, Slow, Small-Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (LIDS), the US Army's system for detecting and destroying small drones, covering the US Army, Qatar and Jordan⁠¹.

Raytheon's parent, RTX, calls them the first international sales of its KuRFS (Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor), a radar built to spot small, low, slow targets, and of the Coyote interceptor, which it says has made "hundreds of intercepts in combat"⁠².

Kuwait bought an air-defence system against drones and other airborne threats for £370m from MARSS, owned by Australia's Electro Optic Systems (EOS), Britain's defence ministry said on 9 October⁠³. MARSS will tie jammers, radars and interceptors together through its NiDAR command software, with production in Bristol and 100 new jobs. Minister Luke Pollard called it "a clear demonstration of the UK delivering on its promise to support our regional partners". EOS signed a laser letter of intent with the Netherlands in September.

Kuwait already has US approval for a $1.98bn counter-drone purchase with Anduril as prime contractor. The MARSS award gives it a second integrator.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Gulf states have faced attacks from drones and missiles and want better protection for bases, cities and oil plants. Qatar and Jordan are buying parts of the US Army's own anti-drone system, including a radar that spots small, low targets and the Coyote, a small missile-like drone that rams attackers. Kuwait bought an air-defence system against drones from MARSS, a British company owned by an Australian firm. MARSS will connect radars, jammers that block drone signals, and interceptors so operators see and act through one control system.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

The Raytheon award bundles components for the US Army, Qatar and Jordan in fixed-site and mobile versions. Buying through one US contract gives the two Gulf customers American production scale they could not order alone.

Kuwait chose a single prime to integrate many sensors and effectors. That reflects a threat that changes faster than any one product line; an integrator can swap a jammer or interceptor without rebuilding the command layer.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Coyote production must now cover US Army demand plus Qatari and Jordanian orders.
Short term · Reported
Risk
Kuwait may run counter-drone systems from two integrators, which would add integration work between their software.
Medium term · Assessed
Opportunity
First export sales give KuRFS and Coyote a reference for further Gulf buyers.
Medium term · Suggested

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: After the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait and other Gulf states bought Patriot, the same air-defence system the US Army fielded, so their batteries could work alongside American ones. Buying the US programme of record has long been The Gulf's route to interoperability.

Counter-parallel: In September 2019 drones and cruise missiles struck Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq and Khurais plants despite Saudi Arabia's Patriot batteries. Defences built for ballistic missiles missed low, slow targets, which is the gap LIDS and the MARSS network are bought to close.

Immediate: RTX published no split of the $729m by customer or quantity. The Kuwaiti award creates 100 jobs in Bristol, according to Britain's defence ministry.

Structural: MARSS belongs to Electro Optic Systems, whose earlier laser letter of intent with the Netherlands shows the same parent selling to Europe and The Gulf. Profit from a British-made Gulf export therefore flows to an Australian-listed group.

Consensus view: RTX's Tom Laliberty calls Coyote 'a proven and cost-effective layer of defense', and RTX says it is accelerating production of the Coyote family. Selling through the US Army's own programme gives Qatar and Jordan kit that matches American units, with shared spares and training.

Counter-view: Britain sold Kuwait's system under Taskforce Sabre, a UK effort to help Gulf states buy quickly after Iranian missile and drone attacks. MARSS chief executive Johannes Pinl says integration runs through 2027, so the integrator model buys flexibility across vendors at the cost of a longer build.

Key tension: Whether Coyote output can serve the US Army and two new foreign customers at once.

First Reported In

Update #19 · China puts drone-part exports under licence

RTX· 26 Oct 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Kuwait armed the day Iran hit it

Kuwait's approved $1.98bn Anduril counter-drone buy preceded its second integrator award to MARSS.

Occurred 6 Jun 2026

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This Event

Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait buy drone defences

Two Arab states now buy the US Army's own counter-drone components, and Kuwait has added a British integrator beside its American one.

Different Perspectives

Office for Budget Responsibility

The OBR's 28 October forecast assumed $82 oil for 2026 and 2027, from market prices for the ten working days to 19 August, and blamed dearer wholesale energy on the war without naming Iran. It expects CPI inflation close to 4% in early 2027 even at that price.

Hengaw, Kurdish rights group

Hengaw reported the 3 November hangings of Amirhossein Maleki and Amirhossein Ebrahimi in Isfahan, saying Ebrahimi was tortured into confessing and that nine of 12 people sentenced to death in the case have now been hanged. Iran's judiciary holds that the defendants killed members of the security forces.

FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit

FINTRAC worked with the US Treasury on the 6 November designation of eight money services businesses in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Treasury says the businesses still operate, some under new names, so closing them falls to Ottawa.

Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil, Governor of Nineveh

Al-Dakhil cancelled three Mosul International Airport contracts on 7 November over alleged links to armed groups, after meeting Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Baghdad. He named no group or company, and said the contracts will go to international companies.

Kuwait

Kuwait condemned the Houthi missile fired towards the Madinah region on 5 November and restated its support for Saudi Arabia, the Qatar News Agency reported. Its state tanker company, Kuwait Oil Tankers Company, is among the Gulf state fleets on Iran's expanded Hormuz list.

Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary

Treasury designated an alleged Chandigarh false-flag network on 4 November and eight Canadian exchangers on 6 November, while State sanctioned alleged MANPADS intermediaries. None of the actions touches an oil buyer; they target the paper, cash and procurement around Iran's trade.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.