woensdag 2 februari 2011

The Netherlands important supplier of Egypt’s arms

The authoritarian regime of Mubarak was armed mainly by the US. But also arms sales from the Netherlands are bigger than one would expect. The sale of armoured personnel carriers (a small kind of tanks) during the mid nineties is still one of the biggest sales in the history of Dutch arms trade.



In 1994 the Netherlands sold 599 YPR-765 and 12 M-577 tracked armoured vehicles. In 2005 a next sale of 431 YPR’s followed. The Dutch government defended this last sale by stating “that since 1994, as far as is known, Egypt used neither military equipment nor the armed forces against civilians.”

Follow-on deliverances continue as can be seen in information published by the Dutch government on arms sales. In a December 209 spreadsheet is a sale for armoured vehicle technology valued over one million euro’s (see table 2).

The deliverances are significant, not only because of their size, but also because of the potential use of this kind of weaponsystem during teh repression of popular protests. Small arms in the end do not convince really angry and desperate people. The bullets are taken as an inescapable part of the protests. That’s horrible, but the cruel reality. When armoured vehicles – in case of the Dutch ones also fitted with 25mm cannons – are deployed the military crew is invulnerable, but the protester defenceless and a easy prey.

In Cairo, until now luckily it is a different story with the army on neither side and waiting its chances. Before it was even seen on the side of the opposition: "(...) their displays of support for the protesters were conspicuous throughout the capital. In one striking example, four armoured military vehicles moved at the front of a crowd of thousands of protesters in a pitched battle against the Egyptian security police defending the Interior Ministry."

The Netherlands sold more arms to Cairo like technology to produce night vision goggles. But the sale of the armoured vehicles remains the most important, although neglected by the press. If they will be or will not deployed against the masses protesting lies in the future. Let’s hope not.

Martin Broek


Original in Dutch: http://broekstukken.blogspot.com/2011/01/nederland-belangrijke-leverancier.html
More on Dutch arms export to Egypt: http://broekstukken.blogspot.com/2011/01/wapenexporten.html


Table 1: armoured vehicles Egypt Source: Military Balance 2010,
p. 248 For more information see: wiki/Modern_equipment_of_the_Egyptian_Army

Note: Armoured vehicles are easy
recognised by shape, tracked or wheeled and the number of wheels.
Pictures can be found on the internet.


412


Reconnaissance


300


 


112


Commando Scout


610


Armoured Infantry

Fighting vehicle (AIFV)


220


BMP-1 (in store)


390


YPR-765 (met 25mm)


4.160


Armoured personnel carrier (APC)




 




 


2.600


APC (tracked) M-113A2


(500)  


BTR-50/OT-62 (most in store)


1.560


APC (wheeled)




250

 

250

 

 

410

 

650


BMP-600P


  BTR-60


  Fahd-30/TH 390 Fahd


  Walid




Table 2:  Arms
sales Egypt 2008-2009


 

Date


 

equipment


 

Final destination


 

origin


 

value

(€)


 

18-12-2009


 

Parts of YPR- and M113 APC armoured vehicles


 

EGYPT


 

Unknown


 

1.202.476


 

februari-2009


 

Technology 
to produce night vision goggles


 

EGYPT


 

Nederland


 

250.000


 

februari-2009


 

Technology and services for radar and fire
control equipment


 

EGYPT


 

Nederland


 

2.547.550


 

19-02-2009


 

Optical passive sight and assessors
(temporarily or retour after repair)


 

EGYPT


 

Nederland


 

20.000


 

23-03-2009


 

Technology and services for radar and fire
control equipment  (temporarily
or retour after repair)


 

EGYPT


 

Nederland


 

274.000


 

19-10-2009


 

Parts of fire control radar (temporarily or
retour after repair)


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

114.000


 

27-10-2009


 

Parts and software for  C3-consoles


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

4.010.932


 

nov-2009


 

Parts and assessors of fire control radar


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

295.000


 

13-02-2008


 

Technology 
to produce night vision goggles


 

Egypt


 

 Netherlands


 

50.000


 

31-07-2008


 

Parts of fire control radar


 

Egypt


 

Unknown


 

69.150


 

October 2008


 

Parts for C3-consoles


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

14.644.151


 

november-2008


 

Night vision camera’s


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

720.000


 

25-11-2008


 

Parts of radar fire control (permission period
extended)


 

Egypt


 

Nederland


 

295.000


Source: several reports on Dutch exports per month,
the Ministry of Economics. See: stopwapenhandel.org/(...)/overheid.html

2 opmerkingen:

Anoniem zei

that is definitely what I was searching for, You have saved me alot of time

Anoniem zei

I really thankful to find this web site on bing, just what I was looking for : D as well saved to fav.