Kuwait Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in kuwait, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Defense
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Overview 

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report on World Military Expenditures indicated that Kuwait is ranked 30th in the world in military expenditures, spending $6.1 billion during 2024. Driven by the country’s desire to play an important role in international affairs and bilateral relations, according to SIPRI, Kuwait’s military expenditure in 2024 was $6.1 billion, which is equivalent to 3.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). 

Kuwait’s military expenditure has grown at an average of 5 percent per year since 2012. The growth is due to the country’s location in a volatile region, its commitment to maintaining a strong military, and its desire to modernize its armed forces. The majority of Kuwait’s military expenditure is on the procurement of new weapons and equipment. Kuwait’s military expenditure is expected to continue to increase in the coming years, as the country modernizes its armed forces.

The country’s defense budget is expected to expand, with increases in spending primarily focused on modernizing military force structure and improving readiness in response to continuing regional instability. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 4 percent during the forecast period 2021-2026.  

Military doctrine, modernization goals, and Kuwait’s national defense strategy: 

The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent occupation, which lasted for almost seven months, prompted the government of Kuwait to develop a robust defense capability. Kuwait has since used its oil and gas export revenues to fund its defense procurements and has invested in developing a robust defensive capability to delay enemy offensive activities just long enough for its allied states to act. 

Segment classifications in Kuwait’s defense market: 

Multirole aircraft is the largest segment in the defense market in Kuwait, followed by attack helicopter, anti-air missiles, and transport helicopter. Kuwait has emerged as an attractive defense market in the Middle East as it is currently dependent on others to fulfill its military needs. The most attractive sectors in Kuwait’s defense market are military fixed wing, military rotorcraft, missiles, and missile defense systems. 

Military fixed wing is expected to be the largest market sector in Kuwait. The country is anticipated to cumulatively spend $9 billion on the military fixed wing sector over 2021-2026. Kuwait is expected to spend $260 million on reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft over the same period. Kuwait is upgrading its air force amid security concerns in the region. 

Import and export market dynamics in the defense market in Kuwait: 

Kuwait imports the majority of its defense equipment from the United States and France. Other significant suppliers to the country have been Switzerland, the UAE, Turkey, the UK and Germany. During 2016-2020, the country procured M88A2 HERCULES recovery vehicles, PAC-3 Patriot anti-missiles, patrol boats, and 28 Eurofighter Typhoons.  

As of March 2025, Italy has failed to deliver all of the 28 Eurofighter Typhoons. The Kuwait National Assembly launched a corruption investigation into the project in late 2022. It is expected that the 2018 $1.5 billion contract to build Boeing’s 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the Kuwait Air Force will be delivered by 2025-2026 timeframe.  

In December 2020, the U.S. Department of State approved a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Kuwait including the remanufacture of sixteen of Kuwait’s AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack helicopters for an estimated cost of $4 billion. All 218 M1A2K tanks procured as part of a $1.7 billion FMS deal were delivered to Kuwait by March 2023. Also, defense imports are expected to increase over the next five years, owing to a lack of domestic manufacturing capacity and the government’s plan to procure military equipment from overseas manufacturers. 

Best Prospects/Services

Kuwait is in the process of concurrently investing in the development of robust intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Over the forecast period, the country is expected to continue investing in strengthening its air force and will focus on the acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to boost surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. 

Office of Military Cooperation Kuwait (OMC-K)

The U.S. Office of Military Cooperation in Kuwait is part of the U.S. Embassy and manages the FMS program. U.S. military sales to Kuwait total $10.5 billion over the last 10 years. Principal U.S. military systems currently purchased by the Kuwait Defense Forces are Patriot missile system, F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, National Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), AH-64 Apache helicopters, and the M1A2K Main Battle Tank.  

Opportunities 

Most of the defense opportunities fall under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Interested companies should be prepared for Kuwait business opportunities

  • Missile defense systems
  • Early warning systems
  • Command and control (C2) systems
  • Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Resources

For further information about the defense sector, please contact Senior Commercial Specialist Oday Dallah at oday.dallah@trade.gov. 

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