A critical new capability for GCC militaries

A growing need in the region

In the absence of an MAA, GCC armed forces have relied on strong partnerships with aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The OEMs tend to be extremely conservative. They typically set operational standards using a lowest-common-denominator approach because OEMs make decisions based on an industrial and economic analysis. Although this approach has guaranteed high safety standards for GCC armed forces, it has limited them in operational, financial, and industrial terms.

By contrast, countries that develop their own airworthiness capabilities are able to manage their own fleet. They can control, and sometimes reduce, their operating costs. These countries can tailor the performance requirements of aircraft to the unique operational needs of their armed forces and make their own determination of whether aircraft are fit for use, which can increase the number of aircraft available for missions. They establish their own procedures to certify aircraft as fit for flight and set their own qualification standards for manufacturers, maintenance organizations, training organizations, aircraft engineers, and technicians within each of these entities.

Along with gaining operational improvements by creating MAAs, GCC countries could capitalize on their relatively large defence budgets. Currently, these countries are among the largest buyers of defence equipment and services in the world.¹ Yet because the GCC lacks a strong defence manufacturing base, most of that spending goes directly to OEMs, thereby leaving the region and perpetuating the current market dynamic of overdependence on foreign suppliers and underdevelopment of national defence industries. Establishing strong airworthiness capabilities can keep some of those funds at home and help develop a national defence industry. For example, the national MAA can certify domestic supply chains — including suppliers, processes, and employees — and ensure proper safety standards.

_{1. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Military Expenditure Database.}

Conclusion

GCC militaries have been able to operate without MAAs until now, but their overreliance on OEMs is likely unsustainable. By creating a military airworthiness capability, countries can adapt their military assets to their unique operational needs, improving operational performance and asset availability. They can also save time, reduce operational budgets, and use their high levels of military spending to help develop a national defence industry. Accomplishing all this does not call for radical innovation or risk. Rather, GCC militaries can follow the well-established paths of their counterparts in other countries. This is a rare opportunity to generate a wide range of benefits. GCC militaries should capitalize on it.