Britain Sells $6.8 Bln Defense Equipment To Saudi Since 2010

UK has sold about £5.6 billion ($6.8 billion) worth military hardware, including 72 Typhoon fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia between May 2010 and early 2016, making it a second most dealer in the world.

Apart from Typhoon, the deal consists of bulk sales of tear gas, bombs and guns, £1.6 billion for Hawk jets. A deal worth is £4.5 billion when completed, Forces TV reported Tuesday.

These deals give Saudi Arabia twice as many British warplanes as the RAF. About £3.5 billion worth of arms sales have occurred between the UK and Saudi Arabia between the start of 2015 and the middle of this year.

Overall, UK government figures show that £7.7 billion of arms sales were made last year. Two-thirds are made to countries in the Middle East.

In the last two years, the UK has won deals worth £388 million with the UAE, £170 million with Qatar, £120 million with Oman and £24 million with Bahrain.

There's also been £450 million worth of arms sales to Turkey and £116 million to Egypt, among others.

The UK now has about 12% of the global defence export market and, over the last decade, has shored up its position as the second largest arms exporter in the world.

The Office of National Statistics listed UK GDP for 2015 as £1.833 trillion, making arms sales for that year about 0.42% of the total.