A balancing act

The Omani ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said, was the first head of state to visit Iran after the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June. His discussions included a proposal for Iran to pump gas to the Gulf Arab state, some of which could be exported using Oman's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. At the same time, Oman is one of the longest-standing and most reliable allies of the West in the Middle East, and it is said to be close to finalising a major order to upgrade its air force with Eurofighter Typhoons.

Reports have resurfaced in the press that Oman is in discussions with the British government over the purchase of 24 Typhoon jets, with talk of an agreement being finalised within the next few months. Speculation about a possible deal has been rife for almost a year, but a report in a recent edition of the Gulf States Newsletter suggests that negotiations could be close to a conclusion. The Eurofighter Typhoon is built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, including the UK's BAE Systems.

The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) needs to complete the replacement programme for its ageing Jaguar aircraft fleet, which was first introduced in the late 1970s. There are 16 British-supplied Jaguars still in operation following the replacement of a squadron of Jaguars with F-16 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin, a US defence contractor, in 2005 and 2006. The prospective Typhoon deal is reported to be worth over US$2bn. If agreement is reached, it would be extremely timely for the British government and the UK's Royal Air Force. The purchase by Oman would help subsidise the UK's order for 89 more advanced Tranche 3 Typhoons, which the UK can ill afford in the current economic climate.

The agreement would not be the RAFO's first experience of dealing with BAE Systems. In the mid-1980s Oman signed a contract with British Aerospace (as the company was then known) to buy eight Tornado aircraft. However, an oil price crash in 1986 led to questions over whether such a sophisticated aircraft was affordable and suitable for a small air force such as Oman's, and the contract was cancelled. Oman subsequently purchased from British Aerospace a fleet of 15 Hawk jets, which it has been operating since the 1980s.

The sultanate has a long history of association with the British military and defence industry, which stretches back to military assistance provided by the UK to overcome a rebellion in the north of Oman, in the late 1950s. The current sultan trained as an officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK and served in the British Army in the early 1960s. A small number of serving British forces personnel are still seconded to Oman's military, although the days when the UK posted a contract officer are now effectively over. Since the 1980s, however, the US has increased military ties with Oman. It has an agreement with the sultanate for the pre-positioning of support equipment for 26,000 personnel at Masirah, Thumrait and Seeb airports, and an agreement for the use of these airports as bases. In early June Oman signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of a C-130 Super Hercules plane, which will join the three C-130Hs that were purchased in the early 1980s. The new aircraft has the ability to operate out of remote airstrips, a useful attribute in desert operations. To further complicate Oman's hardware purchasing decision, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, visited the sultanate in February 2009 with the hope of persuading the RAFO that it should buy French-built Rafale jets as replacements for the Jaguars