The Arab countries have ordered $18 billion worth of arms since the Yom Kippur War–much of it already delivered–and their re-armament is continuing at a pace that suggests a deliberate decision at the Arab summit conference in Rabat last October to emphasize the military option in the Middle East conflict, Israeli sources said today.
The sources saw evidence of a coordinated effort by the Arab states in building their war machines. There is no indiscriminate buying but each country carefully selects the weapons it wants, knows where to find them and the weapons purchased by one Arab state are frequently transferred by pre-arrangement to another, the Israeli sources reported. While the Soviet Union continues to be the main supplier of Arab arms, certain Arab states have received sophisticated electronic devices, aircraft and anti-tank weapons from Western sources as well, the sources said.
Since the Yom Kippur War, the Arab states have received $4 billion worth of weapons from the Soviet Union and other East European Communist bloc countries. Egypt, in particular, has been a major recipient of Soviet arms despite its much advertised complaints that the Soviets were reneging on their weapons commitments.
Israeli experts say that while there may have been some delays in delivering certain items, the Egyptians have already received 1000 tanks from the USSR, half of them the latest T-62 type, hundreds of armored personnel carriers, 100 artillery pieces, 15 SAM anti-aircraft missile batteries of various types, surface-to-surface missiles of the “Frog” and “Scud” types, bridge-building equipment and several naval craft.
SPECIFIC DELIVERIES CITED
The delays have been mostly in delivering aircraft. But Cairo has begun to receive the highly sophisticated MIG-23. In addition, Saudi Arabia, which is financing Egyptian arms purchases, has transferred Mirage-3 Jets and helicopters it bought from France to the Egyptian Air Force. Egypt is also buying Mirages directly from France.
Syria, which lost 200 combat planes in the Yom Kippur War, has gotten 300 new planes from the USSR so far, the Israeli sources said. It also received 1100 tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles from the Soviet arsenal. Syria’s “Frog” missiles have been augmented by a supply of “Scuds” and East Germany has supplied Syria with hundreds of tank transporters.
Iraq has also received tank transporters front East Germany and “Scud” missiles from the Soviet Union. The latter has also supplied Baghdad with 100 planes, 100 helicopters, 300 tanks and 300 artillery pieces, the Israeli sources reported, Libya, which was denouncing the Soviet Union not too long ago, has concluded a $2 billion arms deal with Moscow the sources reported. Part of the arms to be delivered under this deal is intended for transfer to other Arab states.
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