The United Arab Emirates hosts United States air forces at Al Dhafra under bilateral defence cooperation agreements dating from 1994. Vigil records the arrangement as it is publicly described: a standing hosting relationship, older than the war, that the 2026 campaign put under fire on the host's own territory.
The United States in the Gulf maintains a presence hosted by United Arab Emirates. A directional arrangement: the two parties do not hold the same position in it. Authored once and read from both ends.
The arrangement
- Status
- ActiveIn force and operating. Says nothing about how well it is working, or about which way it is heading.Last material change: 2026-02-28.
- What it covers
- DefenceBasingEquipment transferCategories the arrangement is documented to include. Not a measure: a relationship covering more of them is described in more detail, not held more firmly.
Summary
A United States–UAE defence cooperation agreement was signed in 1994 and has been renewed and expanded since; the Al Dhafra base area hosts the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and has been publicly described by both governments as the principal American air presence in the federation. Through the 2026 war the UAE absorbed nearly half of Iranian launches against the Gulf states, hosted Israeli air-defence systems for the first time, and is the state whose air-defence integration with the United States is furthest advanced. The arrangement is authored here because the Atlas and the Map already carried its two ends without the edge between them. Vigil has not read the agreement text and authors none of its terms.
Why it matters
Every forward United States position in this war stands on a host's territory, and the UAE is the host most heavily struck. The relationship explains why the federation's response to the war has been to harden rather than hedge, and it is the arrangement through which the air-defence integration the module's Watch tracks would run.
Agreements
- United States–UAE Defense Cooperation Agreement · signed 1994-07
The founding instrument, renewed and expanded in subsequent agreements whose texts are not public. Operative terms are not authored.
Related events
- The Gulf War and the United States basing posture that followed 1990 – 1991
Military · Political
- United States and Israeli strikes on Iran open the war 28 Feb 2026
Military · Weapons deliveries
Organisations
Structures through which this relationship operates. Not parties to it — the parties are the two actors above.
Places
Markers this module already publishes. This record adds no geographic precision of its own.
What remains unknown
- The current text of the cooperation agreement and any status-of-forces terms are not public; the record states that an arrangement exists and what it publicly covers.
- What the arrangement obliged either party to do when the base area was attacked is not established; the activity series records reported attacks with their basis and nothing about the response.
Watch questions this relationship bears on
Standing analytical questions whose evidence runs through this relationship, each with its latest review. Derived from the Watch object, never restated here.
All Iran–Gulf relationships Open in Explore
Assessed as of — 2026-09 Last reviewed — 2026-09-14