TSAMTO, October 27. Qatar is "disappointed" by the lack of a response from the United States to its request to purchase medium-altitude UAVs of long flight duration (MALE class) MQ-9B "Predator".
According to Fars News, citing an article in the Wall Street Journal, Qatar submitted a request for the purchase of four Predator UAVs more than a year ago. However, the US State Department has not yet responded to the request, and officials refuse to explain the delay.
According to an unnamed source in the Qatari government, Doha's discontent is compounded by the fact that Qatar assisted the United States during the evacuation of the American military contingent and civilian personnel from Afghanistan and the fact that the US State Department approved similar requests from other regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar planned to use a MALE-class UAV to monitor its infrastructure facilities for gas production and transportation to exclude possible terrorist attacks, as well as to increase security at the upcoming World Cup. The project cost was estimated at $600 million.
