... Tight defense agreements that bind Qatar to purchase military equipment; contracts on anti-drone capabilities, MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft systems, air and maritime security

President Donald Trump responds, and after the coup scored yesterday with the 600 billion dollar agreement with Saudi Arabia (see AVIONEWS 1 and 2), today, the second day of his announced tour of visits to the Middle East, he scores a second, in Doha, where he signed an agreement with Qatar to generate economic exchange worth at least 1.2 trillion dollars, also announcing economic agreements totaling more than 243.5 billion dollars between the United States and Qatar, including a historic sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways.

Agreements include:

- A $96 billion order from Qatar Airways for up to 210 Boeing B-787 Dreamliners and -777Xs, powered by GE Aerospace engines. This is the largest order for widebody airplanes and the largest order for 787s ever for the Seattle giant.

- McDermott has a strong partnership with Qatar Energy in the development of critical energy infrastructure, with seven active projects valued at $8.5 billion as the sole supplier of off-shore components for Qatar’s major LNG expansion.

- Parsons has won 30 projects valued at up to $97 billion.

- Quantinuum has finalized a joint-venture with Al Rabban Capital, a leading Qatari firm, to invest up to $1 billion in cutting-edge quantum technologies and workforce development in the United States.

Today's signatures, an institutional note reports, confirm President Trump's intention to accelerate Qatar's defense investments, as part of the US-Emirate security partnership, strengthening regional deterrence and benefiting the US industrial base. Today's defense agreements bind Qatar's purchase of cutting-edge military equipment from two major US defense companies.

- Raytheon, an RTX company, has signed a $1 billion deal for Qatar to acquire counter-drone capabilities, signed by the governments of the United States and Qatar. The deal marks the emirate as the first international customer for Raytheon’s Integrated Drone Disarming System (FS-LIDS), designed to counter unmanned aircraft.

- General Atomics has been awarded a nearly $2 billion deal for Qatar to acquire the MQ-9B unmanned aerial system, signed by the governments of the United States and Qatar. This deal will strengthen bilateral relations between the two Countries and provide the Qatari military with "the world's most advanced multi-mission unmanned aircraft, powered by American-made US products", the statement said.

- The United States and Qatar also signed a statement of intent to further strengthen their security partnership, outlining more than $38 billion in potential investments, including support for burden-sharing at Al Udeid Air Base and future defense capabilities related to air defense and maritime security.

In the video, Trump signing the historic agreements: