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Kuwait is spending an estimated $397m on advanced weaponry for its controversial Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.

Saudi ambitions to build a substantial domestic defence industry were on view at the UK’s biennial Farnborough International Air Show, where Saudi Arabian Military Industries (Sami) signed deals with big players to further its localisation ambitions.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa issued a royal order to set up a Military Institution for the Development of Warfare Industries, as Bahrain takes further steps to develop its own military manufacturing sector, following the lead of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the region.

The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) is to take over responsibility for maintenance of its Hawk aircraft engines from Rolls-Royce, while the Royal Army of Oman is to take charge of maintenance and repair services for its fleet of armoured personnel carriers from Turkey’s FNSS.

The Qatari Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) marked the completion of the last of four ships ordered from Anadolu Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. The landing vessels will undergo six weeks of tests before being delivered to Qatar.

Iraq's Defence Industries Commission presented the country's first domestically-manufactured handgun. The Babel handgun has been developed in partnership with China North Industries Corporation (Norinco).

The first UAE-Australia Defence Industries Forum was held at the Armed Forces Officers Club in Abu Dhabi. Ten Australian companies attended the  event.

Turkey’s Ares Shipyard said it had won a contract to provide its Ares 40 Fast Interceptor Craft to the Qatar Coast Guard. Meanwhile, the Al-Shamal training ship arrived in Doha on 9 June, built by another Turkish firm, Anadolu Shipyard.

The Iranian Holy Defense News Agency gave prominence to a ceremony on 22 May that celebrated the return to frontline service of a single grounded Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Iriaf) F-14 Tomcat. The F-14 entered service in 1974 and was retired by the US in 2006, but Iran has been forced to retain it and other obsolescent US models, including F-4 Phantoms, due to international sanctions.

Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri inaugurated a drone factory in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 17 May. Bagheri had arrived the previous day, to be greeted on arrival in the Tajik capital by chief of the general staff Lieutenant General Imomali Sobirzoda.

The Iranian Army (Artesh) put a number of previously-unseen pieces of kit on display during the annual Army Day parade in Tehran on 18 April. The parade, overseen by President Ebrahim Raisi, featured the army’s ground forces, Air Force, Air Defence Force and the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (Nejada).

The first two NH90 NFH helicopters designed for naval operations have been delivered to the Qatar Emiri Air Force. Qatar has 12 of the aircraft on order, as part of a wider €3bn ($3.7bn) contract to buy 28 helicopters which was announced in March 2018 at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition (Dimdex).

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa commissioned five ships into the Royal Bahraini Naval Force (RBNF) at an early April ceremony. The ships – Damsah, Al-Farooq, Al-Ghurairiah, Jenan and Sakhir – are Cyclone-class patrol ships previously used by the US Navy Fifth Fleet.

The Turkish TB-2 uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) already has buyers in the Mena region and by proving its worth in Ukraine is likely to find even more.

A consignment of 52 Iranian-made Dehlavieh anti-tank missiles has been intercepted at the Al-Mazyunah border crossing between Oman and Yemen. The missiles were hidden in a consignment of four electrical generators, which had been rigged to appear fully operational should they have been test-run at the border.