World Bulletin / News Desk

Qatar will establish a new airbase called “Tamim Airbase”, a senior Qatari Amiri Air Force official revealed.

This was disclosed by Maj Gen Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Malki, Deputy Commander of the Qatari Amiri Air Force, during an interview with “Al Talai" magazine published on Sunday by the Directorate of Moral Guidance in the Ministry of Defense.

In addition, command and control systems will be developed by introducing the latest radar systems and communications, Al Malki added. 

The development of the Air Force has taken a quantum leap under the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as equipment have been doubled and new systems have been brought into service including fighter jets, transport aeroplanes and helicopters.

The Qatari air force has seen significant development after 2014, and Doha has concluded several major deals over the past months.

In December 2017, Qatar signed an agreement with the UK to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon after two successive agreements with the US to buy 36 F-15QA fighters and with France to buy 12 Rafale fighters.

The US Defense News quoted an informed source that the number of Qatar Air Force aircraft will rise to 96 aircraft from the current fleet of Mirage-2000, which is 12 aircraft.