Qatar announced contracts worth $23 billion on Thursday to buy attack helicopters, advanced anti-missile interception systems and other military equipment, as the country accelerates a military build-up.

The world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter announced deals with 20 companies, including firms from the United States which were awarded deals worth 27.5 billion Qatar riyal ($7.55 billion), said a spokeswoman for a Doha defence conference where the announcements were made.

The announcements included a contract with Boeing to buy 24 Apache helicopters for 8.9 billion riyals.

France's Defence Ministry said Qatar had agreed to buy 22 NH90 military helicopters from a unit of European aerospace group Airbus worth 2 billion euros ($2.76 billion) and two Airbus-made refuelling tankers.

NHIndustries is 62.5 percent owned by Airbus helicopter unit Eurocopter, 32 percent owned by Italian defence group Finmeccanica's AgustaWestland unit and 5.5 percent owned by Stork Fokker. - Reuters