BAE Systems sold £15bn worth of arms to Saudis during Yemen assault

Britain’s leading arms manufacturer BAE Systems sold £15bn worth of arms and services to the Saudi military during the last five years, the period covered by Riyadh’s involvement in

Britain’s leading arms manufacturer BAE Systems sold £15bn worth of arms and services to the Saudi military during the last five years, the period covered by Riyadh’s involvement in the deadly bombing campaign in the war in Yemen.

Figures taken from the company’s most recent annual report and newly analyzed by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) reveal the British arms maker generated £2.5bn in revenues from the Saudi military during the whole of 2019.

That takes the total sales of BAE arms and services to the Saudi military for the period between 2015 and 2019 – including the period from the start of the Saudi bombing in March 2015 – to slightly over £15bn, or 17.3% over the five years.

Andrew Smith of CAAT said: “The last five years have seen a brutal humanitarian crisis for the people of Yemen, but for BAE it’s been business as usual. The war has only been possible because of arms companies and complicit governments willing to support it.”

Thousands of civilians have been killed since the civil war in Yemen began in March 2015 with indiscriminate bombing by a Saudi-led coalition that is supplied by BAE and other Western arms makers. The kingdom’s air force is accused of being responsible for many of the 12,600 killed in targeted attacks.

Five days ago the Saudi-led coalition began a unilateral two-week ceasefire, in an attempt to show awareness of the threat posed by coronavirus to the war-ravaged country with only rudimentary health services, although it is not certain if the pause in hostilities will hold.

The data also reveals that the true value of British arms sales to the Gulf kingdom is far greater than the £5.3bn total value of UK export licenses since the Saudi-led coalition began its campaign in Yemen.