Case File

Kuwait Eurofighter & Caracal Case

Author
Carla Martínez
Published on
July 21, 2026
Image
Arrival of the first two Caracal helicopters from France to Kuwait. Source: Official twitter account of the French Embassy in Kuwait.
Arrival of the first two Caracal helicopters from France to Kuwait. Source: Official twitter account of the French Embassy in Kuwait.
Arrival of the first two Caracal helicopters from France to Kuwait. Source: Official twitter account of the French Embassy in Kuwait.

Contents

Contents

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Introduction

Introduction

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Kuwait's purchases of 30 Airbus H225M Caracal helicopters (€1.07 billion, 2016) and 28 Leonardo Eurofighter Typhoons (€7.96 billion, 2016) were marred with corruption allegations. Both deals were investigated separately before merging into a joint Kuwaiti parliamentary probe.

Outcomes were mixed and ultimately incomplete as both cases lost momentum when Kuwait's National Assembly was dissolved in February 2024, and in May 2024 the Emir suspended parliament and parts of the constitution for up to four years, leaving neither case with a legislative body to pursue further accountability.

On the Caracal side, Airbus used intermediary Farid Abdelnour and several of his companies, to help secure the deal for a 6% commission, and despite officially banning such intermediary payments in 2015, executives kept quietly engaging with him into 2016. Abdelnour won €12 million in arbitration against Airbus in 2020, and Airbus separately paid $3.9 billion in a global bribery settlement with French, US and UK authorities where Kuwaiti deals were ultimately excluded.

On the Eurofighter side, Kuwait's Ministry of Defense reportedly rubber-stamped Leonardo's multi-billion-dollar offer in a single day, with prices allegedly inflated without proper ministerial authorization.

The joint committee found roughly €349 million in wasted public funds on the Caracal deal. The Eurofighter prosecution, however, ended in acquittals for all defendants in January 2023.

Case Details

Case details

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Seller country
France, Italy
Seller company
Airbus SE, Finmeccanica (now Leonardo SPA), Leonardo SPA, BAE Systems, Alenia Aermacchi
Buyer country
Kuwait
Goods category
Helicopters, Aircraft
Equipment sold
30 H225M Caracal multirole military utility helicopters (24 for the Kuwaiti Air Force and 6 for the Kuwait National Guard) & 28 Eurofighter Typhoons: 22 single-seater and 6 twin-seats
Deal value
$10.14 billion (2016) ($1,1 billion for 30 Caracal helicopters; $9.04 billion for 28 Eurofighters)
Sum involved in corruption
Caracal deal At least €349 million (2024) wasted public funding; $12 million awarded to intermediary by ICC arbitration, initially demanding to be paid 6% of the Caracal deal value. Eurofighter deal Unconfirmed summed due to mismanagement of public funds.
Start year
2015
Outcome status
Mixed

Actors

Actors

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  • Caracal Deal

  • Farid Abdelnour - Lebanese former business intermediary for Airbus in Kuwait; successfully took the company to arbitration for unpaid commissions.

  • Guillaume Faury - CEO of Airbus SE (2026-) and former CEO of Airbus Helicopters (2013-2018); signatory of the Caracal helicopter contract; while Airbus was under investigation and officially ceased intermediary payments in 2015, Faury continued personal email correspondence with Abdelnour.

  • Marwan Lahoud - Former Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of Airbus (2007-2017); involved in the negotiations of Abdelnour's fee arrangement.

  • Fabrice Bregier - Formally Chief Operating Officer of Airbus (2006-2012, 2018) and Chairman and CEO of Airbus (2012-2017) during the 2015–2016 Caracal negotiation and signing period; later Chairman of Palantir Technologies France (2018-2024).

  • Thomas Ender - CEO of Airbus Group (2012- 2019); linked to a separate fraud investigation in a Vienna court concerning Austria’s €2 billion Eurofighter procurement deal.

  • Jean-Yves Le Drian - French Minister of Defence (2012-2017) and later Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2017-2022); signed in Kuwait the contract for the 30 Caracal helicopters.

  • Airbus SE - Trans-European arms company; specialises in both commercial and military aircraft; headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, with its primary operational base in Toulouse, France.

  • Airbus SAS - French subsidiary of Airbus SE, based in France, responsible for Airbus's commercial aircraft operations; along with Airbus Helicopters SAS and parent company Airbus SE, appears as a named party in the family of Paris-seated ICC arbitrations connected to Airbus's use of intermediaries.

  • Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter) - wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus; specialising in helicopter manufacturing; headquartered at Aéroport International Marseille-Provence in Marignane, France.

  • Indeco Holding SAL - Lebanese-registered company linked to Abdelnour; brought Airbus, Airbus Helicopters, and Airbus SE to arbitration; lost the award (Dec 2024); sought annulment, then withdrew; exequatur granted in 2025.

  • S.A.R.L Onaco Consultancy and Invest SAL - Lebanese-registered company linked to Abdelnour; brought Airbus, Airbus Helicopters, and Airbus SE to arbitration; lost the award (Dec 2024); sought annulment, then withdrew; exequatur granted in 2025.

  • Internationale d'Action Stratégie et de Conseil (IASC) - French-law consulting company founded in 2000 as a single-shareholder company by Abdelnour; formally ceased operations in 2024; engaged under a service agreement with Airbus from 2008 to 2014; initiated arbitration against Airbus in 2018 over eight allegedly unpaid invoices; lost the case in 2022, with the court ordering IASC to pay a combined €165,000 in arbitration and legal costs to Airbus; IASC and Abdelnour appealed the ruling; in 2023, the court ordered IASC to pay a further €20,000.

  • Kuwait Officials

  • Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Ahmad Al Sabah - Prime Minister of Kuwait (2011-2019); signatory of the Franco-Kuwaiti defence deal; ordered an investigation into the Caracal deal following reports of bribery; detained in 2021 for embezzlement in separated charges known as “Army fund case”; acquitted 2022, appealed in 2023; court ordered to repay embezzled funds 2023; passed away 14 September 2024.

  • Sheikh Gen. Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah - Kuwaiti lieutenant general and politician; signed Eurofighter deal while serving as Prime minister and minister of defense (2013-2017); deputy prime minister and minister of interior (2017-2019); Charged with embezzlement in March 2021 in the “Army Fund case”; acquitted 2022, appealed in 2023; convicted in November 2023 to a 7 year sentence.

  • Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense (2017-2019); whistleblower on the Kuwait Army Fund case in 2019, triggering the 2019 cabinet resignation implicating officials involved in the 30 Caracal helicopter deal.

  • Adel Al-Damkhi - Kuwaiti politician; chaired the 2023–24 joint parliamentary committee investigating both Caracal and Eurofighter contracts simultaneously.

  • Mubarak Al-Hajraf - Kuwaiti politician; raised the issue in the Kuwaiti National Assembly demanding an investigation into the Caracal helicopters contract.

  • Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah - Acting Defence Minister; cooperated with the joint committee, ordered temporary Caracal delivery suspension (2022).

  • Anas Khalid Al-Saleh - Businessman and politician; served as Prime Minister and Minister of Cabinet Affairs (2017-2021); referred Caracal case to NAZAHA in 2018.

  • Eurofighter Deal

  • Mauro Moretti - Finmeccanica CEO (2014-2017) at time of Eurofighter contract signing; in charge of Finmeccanica (now Leonardo) “One Company” strategy; numerous roles held in railway and aerospace; convicted in 2026 for arson and negligence for a train accident occurred in 2009.

  • Roberta Pinotti - Italian Defence Minister (2014-2018); co-signed Eurofighter intergovernmental agreement.

  • Eurofighter GmbH consortium - Multinational company and joint venture founded in 1986; coordinates the design, production and upgrade of the Eurofighter Typhoon military jet; ownership structure is 46% Airbus Defence and Space (France, Germany and Spain); 33% BAE Systems Military Air & Information (United Kingdom); and 21%: Leonardo (Italy); headquartered in Hallbergmoos, Germany.

  • Airbus Defence and Space - German-based military and space systems division of Airbus; founded in 2012; announced plans to merge with Leonardo and Thales in 2027.

  • BAE Systems Military Air & Information - Business unit in charge of design, development, manufacture and support of fixed wing military aircraft for BAE Systems; founded in 2007; headquartered in Warton, England.

  • Leonardo S.p.A. - Italian arms company; founded in 1948 under the name Finemaccia; partially state-owned by the Italian government (30.2%); headquartered in Rome, Italy.

  • Alenia Aermacchi - Italian arms company specialising in aircraft; founded in 1990; subsidiary of Leonardo since 2015; headquartered in Venegono Superiore, Varese, Italy.

Timeline

Timeline

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Caracal Deal
2008
  • Strategy and Marketing Organization (SMO) International is created to manage and support sales across the Airbus Group. It was responsible for identifying, engaging and overseeing commercial intermediaries; who were allegedly used to channel bribes to government officials and executives to secure commercial and arms contracts.
2011
  • Airbus Helicopters requests the services of Indeco Holding SAL to mediate the purchase of 12 Caracal helicopters with the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry.
2013
  • Kuwait issues a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new medium helicopter, evaluating AgustaWestland (now Leonardo), Sikorsky, a US-based arms company, bids alongside the H225M Caracal helicopters from Airbus.
  • 3 JunAirbus enters into a consultant agreement for €12 million with Farid Abdelnour. As mentioned in a letter on 30 June 2013, Indeco Holding SAL is to be paid 6% of the total value of the sale, at that time it was €30 million.
2014
  • JunAirbus Helicopters increases target number of Caracal helicopters that it wants to sell to Kuwait, doubling the initial number from 12 to 24.
2015
  • AprThe SMO ceases operations and Airbus Helicopters officially stops making payments to intermediaries.
  • OctIndeco Holding SAL secures a new client into the deal, the Kuwaiti National Guard, raising the number of Caracal again, this time to 30 helicopters.
  • 21 OctKuwaiti Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Ahmad Al Sabah, and French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, meet in Paris to sign a package of three defense trade accords valued at $2.5 billion (2015), including Sherpa light armoured vehicles; P37 patrol boats and the Caracal helicopters for a value of €1,071,922,800.
2016
  • MarAirbus SMO is formally dissolved.
  • MayAirbus Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Marwan Lahoud writes to intermediary Abdelnour to let him know an additional due diligence check had been completed and they could conclude negotiations “related to our cooperation in support of helicopter campaigns, after you have completed the restructuring of your group in accordance with our requests.”
  • 9 AugAirbus Helicopters and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense sign a contract for the purchase of 30 H225M Caracal helicopters; 24 helicopters for the Kuwait Air Force and 6 for the Kuwait National Guard.
  • OctDespite the official freeze on intermediary payments, then CEO of Airbus Helicopters, Gillaume Faury, apologises by text to Abdelnour for "the inconvenience caused by the ongoing process," stating that "making good progress in Kuwait is of superior importance to me and Airbus Helicopters."
2017
  • 31 MarIndeco Holding SAL sends a letter to the attention of Airbus SE CEO Tom Ender; Airbus Group SAS; Fabrice Bregier from Airbus SAS; and Guillaume Faury from Airbus Helicopters soliciting a payment within 30 days for its services.
  • MayAfter the payments still failed to arrive, Abdelnour took the company to arbitration.
2020
  • 13 FebThe Kuwaiti Ministry of Defence refused the delivery of the first two Caracal helicopters due to technical defects and created a specialised technical committee to address and prevent the causes of defect.
  • 17 DecFirst Caracal Batch arrives at Kuwait Ali Al-Salem Air Base.
2022
  • 2 DecThe head of the parliamentary panel investigating Caracal and Eurofighter deals, Mr. Al-Damkhi, announced a temporary suspension of Caracal deliveries
2024
  • 27 JunLast batch of two Caracal helicopters is received in Kuwait.
Eurofighters Deal
2015
  • 15 SepItaly and Kuwait sign a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of 28 Eurofighter jets in a deal valued at € 8 billion.
2016
  • 1 FebKuwait's State Audit Bureau holds back approval, citing missing cost documentation on technical support, training, spare parts, and infrastructure construction.
  • 1 MarKuwait's National Assembly approved a law to withdraw KD 150 million from state reserves to make an advance payment for the purchase of the 28 Eurofighters.
  • 5 AprKuwait signs the €7.957 billion contract with Finmeccanica (Leonardo) for 28 Eurofighter Typhoons equipped with Captor-E AESA radar.
2021
  • 7 DecKuwait received its first two Eurofighter Typhoons.
2023
  • OctBy October Kuwait had received 13 Eurofighters.
2025

Outcomes

Investigation Outcomes

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Caracal Deal
2017
  • DecPrime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah ordered the Caracal deal to be investigated to verify the conditions under which the contract had been negotiated with Airbus Helicopters.
2018
  • 17 JanKuwaiti politician and member of the opposition, Mubarak Al-Hajraf cabinet raises corruption case to the Kuwait National Anti-Corruption Authority (NAZAHA) and the Audit Bureau.
  • 18 JanNAZAHA's acting secretary general, Mohammed Buzabar, officially announced that an investigation had begun into the Caracal contract.
2020
  • 13 FebKuwait MoD issues official statement suspending Caracal deliveries and forming a specialised technical committee after two aircraft found to have engine malfunctions before formal receipt.
  • 31 JanAirbus agreed to $3.9 billion in DPAs with US, UK and French authorities. Kuwait Caracal contract excluded from proceedings.
  • NovICC arbitration court rules in Abdelnour's favour after he took them to court in 2017; Airbus ordered to pay €12 million, finding the company had "carried out business as usual" with Abdelnour throughout 2015-2016.
2022
  • 27 DecThe head of the investigation committee, Al-Damkhi says that acting Defense Minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah has ordered the temporary suspension of the delivery of Caracal helicopters from France.
2024
  • 1 AugAl-Damkhi presents committee findings at the National Assembly, confirming €349 million in wasted public funds in the 30 Caracal helicopters deal.
Eurofighter Deal
2019
  • Requested by then-Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, an investigation committee was formed to examine high prices and contract annex clauses. In the Technical Office of Parliament's Budgets and Final Accounts Committee, covering the Defense Ministry's final account (2018–2019) the inflation-cost methodology is flagged, as well as the need to tighten pre-approval oversight on arms contracts.
2021
  • 16 JunSheikh Ahmed and Defence Minister Hamad Jaber notified NAZHA about suspected "corruption”.
  • DecIn the Kuwaiti Audit Bureau annual auditing report, the Ministry of Defense is accused of a "fictitious approval” having reviewed and approved Finmeccanica's technical and financial multi-billion offer in one day.
2022
  • 24 JanNAZAHA referred a colonel and major general to public prosecution for improperly inflating jet prices in the Eurofighter deal, allegedly paid without the Defense nor Finance Ministry authorization.
  • 5 JulCase is adjourned until September 2022.
  • 26 DecThe Court of Ministers reserved the case for judgment, setting 17 January 2023 for the ruling.
2023
  • 18 JanThe Court of Ministers acquitted Khaled Al-Jarrah and four other defendants.
Joint Investigation
2022
  • 14 DecThe Kuwait National Assembly agreed to form a parliamentary investigation committee to investigate allegations of corruption in the two multibillion-dollar defence deals.
2023
  • OctAl-Damkhi alleged that "gangs" were trying to interfere with the committee's work. He also denounced the creation of fake accounts on social media from senior officials who were suspended at the request of the panel trying to obstruct the committee’s work.
2024
  • 13 FebThe Kuwaiti National Assembly session formally places the Eurofighter and Caracal Investigation on the agenda.
  • 15 FebKuwait's Cabinet held an extraordinary session at Seif Palace, and based on Article 107 of the Constitution and the Prime Minister's presentation, the Cabinet agreed on a decree to dissolve the National Assembly and formally tendered it to the Amir for approval. This was part of ongoing political tensions in Kuwait between the executive, legislature, and ruling family.
  • 10 MayKuwait parliament is dissolved and certain Articles from the Constitution suspended by Amiri decree for up to four years. As a result, the investigation could not proceed further.

References

References

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