UK companies have exported millions of pounds’ worth of arms and ammunition to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since January 2024, FactCheck analysis finds.

The UAE is currently under scrutiny for its alleged role in supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group which is accused of mass killings and war crimes in Sudan.

The current conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023.

A report by UN experts as early as January 2024 found “credible” evidence that the UAE had supplied arms to the RSF.

Reporting in the Guardian suggests that the UN Security Council, of which the UK is a member, had evidence in June 2024 that UK-manufactured arms were being used by the RSF in Sudan and had likely been diverted via the UAE. 

Our analysis of HMRC data finds that UK companies continued to export arms to the UAE throughout 2024, with some significant peaks. 

The biggest month was May 2024, when over £3.5 million worth of arms were exported to UAE.

But there were later peaks too – over £1.1 million worth of arms were sent in September last year, over £1.6 million in November last year, and over £1.7 million in January this year.

Since then, exports have declined, but have not stopped altogether.

In total, over £15 million worth of UK arms were exported to UAE throughout 2024, while around £2.5 million have been exported so far this year. The latest figures go up to September.

We do not have a full picture of what arms have been exported, as the UK government suppresses some information for confidentiality reasons.

Items exported came under a broad range of categories including cartridges and “munitions of war”, but also “non-military arms”.

Export licences

If a UK company wishes to sell arms abroad, it needs to apply to the government for an export licence to do so. 

Data further shows that the UK government has continued to issue export licences for UK arms exports to the UAE.

In the four quarters since Labour came to power, we find the government has issued more than £370 million worth of licences for the export of military goods to the UAE. 

The latest data we have is for the second quarter of 2025. In that quarter alone, the UK government issued military export licences for the UAE worth £172 million. 

This number represents an upper limit on what can be exported under these licences – companies have permission to export this much, but the actual value exported is usually significantly smaller.

Some of the licences issued in the latest quarter covered items like sniper rifles and their components, weapon sights, components for hand grenades, and components for unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). 

We don’t know which of these licences have actually been used to export items, or who the end users of the items would be. 

Some open licences have also been issued for the UAE over this period, which allow an exporter to send unlimited quantities of certain goods – including some military items – for the duration of the licence.

The UK government has refused some licences to UAE in recent months. For example, it refused a licence for small arms ammunition in the second quarter of this year.

Government responses

UAE officials have denied it has provided any arms to any group involved in the conflict in Sudan.

The UK government told us it has a very strong arms export licensing system in place, and it takes any allegations of diversion of exported weapons to another country very seriously. It said it had reviewed a large number of export licences, and found no evidence of diverted items being linked to existing licences.

Speaking to Channel 4 News today, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “I have deliberately made the issues around Sudan one of the top priorities here in the Foreign Office because this is the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century.”