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328 THE MILITARY BALANCE 2024
Chapter Six
Middle East and North Africa
Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 Syria returned to the Arab League, having been
from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people and taking
suspended 12 years earlier because of the Bashar
civilians and military personnel as hostages, unleashing
al-Assad regime’s actions in the country’s civil war.
Battlelines within the country were little changed over
a brutal war between the sides. Israel responded with
heavy bombing, artillery re, and a ground incursion
the past year and the government has shown little
into Gaza. The ghting halted e orts to normalise
interest in enticing refugees to return from abroad.
relations between Tel Aviv and several Arab Gulf states.
increase in the past year, almost doubling from 2022.
Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic ties under
The country has been spending heavily on equipment
an agreement brokered by China, signalling Beijing’s
modernisation. High in ation and other factors could
increasing interest in shaping the geopolitical landscape
in the Middle East. Despite the breakthrough, it was not
make it di cult, though, for Algiers to maintain high
levels of defence outlays.
clear how monitoring, follow-up and enforcement of
the deal would occur. Algeria logged the region’s largest defence spending
Israel’s defence exports reached a record high in 2022
US e orts to reduce troop deployments to the Middle and were on pace for another strong year in 2023, with
30
D EF EN S EH ER E S O F E X 2 0 2 4 E D I T I O N
East to focus more on the Indo-Paci c su ered a setback the country securing deals such as Germany’s purchase
because of Iranian naval harassment in the region, of Arrow 3 missile-defence systems. The Hamas–Israel
jordan
Russian action in Syria and the Hamas–Israel war. At war could dent Tel Aviv’s export potential, though, both
various times, the Pentagon rushed missile-defence because domestic needs could trump export interest
equipment, combat aircraft and two aircraft-carrier and because of strained relations with some historic
strike groups to the region to bolster its presence. buyers of Israeli weapons, such as Colombia.
Saudi Arabia, real-terms defence budget Active military personnel – top 10
Jordan’s Defense Industry Evolution: A
Path to National Security
trend, 2015–23 (USDbn, constant 2015)* (25,000 per unit)
Iran Global
30
70 Jordan’s defense sector has undergone 610,000 total
a remarkable transformation since 20,646,000
the late 20th century. Historically, the
25
60 Egypt 438,500
country lacked a robust industrial base
in defense, but this changed with the
20
50 ascension of King Abdullah II in 1999. Saudi Arabia 257,000
His reign marked a pivotal shift in Jor-
Defence budgets and expenditure
dan’s approach to national security and Morocco 195,800
40
USDbn, constant 2015 30 sion encompassed the development of 2. China 3. Russia b † Israel 169,500 USDbn
military self-sufficiency. The King’s vi-
10
Iraq 193,000
Top 15 defence budgets in 2023 (USDbn) *
a national military-industrial complex
1. United States
a
aimed at enhancing Jordan’s defense
5
950
capabilities and ensuring greater in-
20
dependence. The cornerstone of this
0
850
15 Year-on-year % change
strategy was the establishment of the 4. India Syria 169,000 900
242.4
10 Jordan Design and Development Bu- 219.5 108.5 Algeria 139,000 800
-5
reau (JODDB), an institution designed 750
-10
0 to spearhead advancements in military 73.6 Jordan 100,500 700
technology and local manufacturing. 12.5% Regional 650
2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 (PPP ε407.9) (PPP ε294.6) total 600
7. Germany
Establishment and Evolution of JODDB
Note: *Defence budget only – excludes security expenditure 5. United Kingdom c 6. Saudi Arabia d United Arab Emirates 63,000 2,572,000 550
500
905.5
The Jordan Design and Development 450
Bureau (JODDB) was founded as a sig- 400
63.7
69.1
ε73.5
nificant initiative to bolster Jordan’s defense sector. Operating under the Jordanian Armed Forces, JODDB serves as a
350
crucial entity focused on providing innovative solutions and leveraging advanced technologies to strengthen national
300
8. France
10. South Korea
9. Japan
security. Its mission encompasses a range of activities, including the development of local manufacturing capabilities,
250
enhancement of human resources, and the production of various defense-related products. 200
150
49.0
43.8
60.0
JODDB’s scope is broad, spanning several industrial and service sectors. These include manufacturing solutions, light
100
vehicle production, metal forming, ammunition production, light weapons design, and the development of specialized
50
11. Australia
13. Ukraine
14. Brazil
12. Italy
15. Canada
military equipment. Notably, JODDB has concentrated efforts on advancing night and thermal surveillance technolo-
0
gies, reflecting the evolving demands of modern warfare. United Other Rest
States top 15 of the
34.4 32.7 31.1 24.2 24.2 countries world
a OMB adjusted gure. b Total defence expenditure including military R&D funding, military pensions, paramilitary forces’ budgets, and other MoD-related expenses such as housing. c Includes Armed
Forces Pension Scheme and military aid to Ukraine. d Excludes security expenditure. Note: Unless otherwise indicated, US dollar totals are calculated using average market exchange rates for 2023,
derived using IMF data. The relative position of countries will vary not only as a result of actual adjustments in defence spending levels, but also due to exchange-rate uctuations between domestic
Special Free Zone for Defense Industries
currencies and the US dollar. The use of average exchange rates reduces these uctuations, but the effects of such movements can be signi cant in a number of cases. Dashed line re ects an estimate
for the value of the Chinese and Russian defence budget in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms to take into account the lower input costs in these countries. These PPP gures are not used in any
regional or global totals in this publication and should not be used in comparison with other international data. ©IISS
2023 Top 15 defence budgets as a % of GDP*
Algeria Saudi Oman Russia Armenia Mali Kuwait Jordan Morocco Israel Myanmar UAE Iraq Azerbaijan Burkina
Arabia Faso
8.2% 6.5% 6.0% 5.8% 5.3% 5.1% 4.9% 4.5% 4.4% 4.3% 4.1% 4.1% 4.1% 4.0% 4.0%
©IISS
Planned global defence spending by region 2023 * Planned defence spending by country 2023 *
†
†
Russia, 4.8% Other Eurasia, 0.4%
Latin America and the Caribbean, 2.4% Other Middle Sub-Saharan Africa, 0.9%
East and North Latin America, 2.5%
Asia, 22.8% Africa, 5.1%
Saudi
Arabia, 3.1%
Other United
North Asia, 5.6% States,
America, Middle East 40.5%
41.5% and North South
Korea, 2.0%
Africa, 8.4% Japan, 2.2%
India, 3.3%
China, 10.0% United
Sub-Saharan Europe, 17.3% Non-NATO Europe, 1.1% Kingdom, 3.3%
Africa, 0.9% France, 2.7%
Russia and Eurasia, 6.6% Ukraine, 1.4% Other NATO, 8.5% Germany, 2.8%
©IISS
† At current prices and exchange rates
* Analysis only includes countries for which sufficient comparable data is available. Notable exceptions include Cuba, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela.
