Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabian army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during Operation Desert Shield

The Royal Saudi Land Forces are composed of three armored brigades, five mechanized brigades, one airborne brigade, one Royal Guard brigade, and eight artillery battalions. The army also has one aviation command with two aviation brigades.[17]

The army's main equipment consists of a combination of French- and U.S.-made armored vehicles: 315 M–1A2 Abrams, 290 AMX–30, and 450 M60A3 main battle tanks; 300 reconnaissance vehicles; 570+ AMX–10P and 400 M–2 Bradley armored infantry fighting vehicles; 3,000+ M113 and 100 Al-Fahd armored personnel carriers, produced in Saudi Arabia; 200+ towed artillery pieces; 110 self-propelled artillery pieces; 60 multiple rocket launchers; 400 mortars; 10 surface-to-surface missiles; about 2,000 antitank guided weapons; about 200 rocket launchers; 450 recoilless launchers; 12 attack helicopters; 50+ transport helicopters; and 1,000 surface-to-air missiles.[17]

In 1996 Saudi Arabia had military cities in the northeast, the King Khalid Military City, at Tabuk, at Dharhran, and at Abha in the southwest. There was a 1996 report that construction of a military city at Jizan, orientated toward Yemen, had begun with Defence Minister Prince Sultan pouring the first concrete on 8 May 1996.[27]

The Library of Congress Country Study for Saudi Arabia, issued in 1992, noted that "[t]he army has been chronically under strength, in the case of some units by an estimated 30 to 50 percent. These shortages have been aggravated by a relaxed policy that permitted considerable absenteeism and by a serious problem of retaining experienced technicians and non-commissioned officers.[28]

HMS "Makkah", an Al Riyadh class frigate

The navy is divided into two fleets: the Western Fleet has bases in Jeddah, Jizan, and Al Wajh; the Eastern Fleet has bases in Al Jubayl, Ad Dammam, Ras Mishab, and Ras al Ghar. The marines are organized into one infantry regiment with two battalions.[17]

The navy's inventory includes 11 principal surface combatants, 65 patrol and coastal combatants, 7 mine warfare vessels, 8 amphibious craft, and 7 support and miscellaneous craft. Naval aviation forces have 19 helicopters (armed) serving in naval support.[17]

Eurofighter Typhoon

The air force is organized in seven fighter/ground-attack squadrons, six fighter squadrons, and seven training squadrons. Saudi Arabia has at least 15 active military airfields.[17]

As of 2011, Saudi Arabia has around 300 combat aircraft. The kingdom's combat aircraft are newly acquired Typhoons and upgraded Tornado IDS, F-15 Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle fighter planes. Saudi Arabia has a further 80+ F-15 Eagles on order and an option to buy another 72 Typhoons.

Saudi MIM-104 Patriot on display

Air Defense was part of the Army until 1981 when it was made a separate service. It operates "Peace Shield" a state-of-the-art radar and air defense system consisting of a Command Operations Center at Riyadh, and main operating bases at Dhahran, Taif, Tabuk, Khamis Mushait and Al Kharj. The total system includes 164 sites.[29]

The system equipment comprises 17 General Electric AN/FPS-117 long-range 3D radars, 6 Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-43 tactical radars, and Raytheon Improved HAWK air defence missile system.[29]

DF-21

The Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Forces (RSSMF) is equipped with the Chinese DF-3A (CSS-2) Dongfeng missile sold to Saudi Arabia by China. A conventional high-explosive warhead (2150 kg) variant of the DongFeng 3A Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile was developed for an export order to Saudi Arabia in 1987. About 30+ missiles and 9~12 launchers were reportedly delivered in 1988, though no known test launch has ever been made in the country.[30][31] The Strategical Missile Forces is top secret, so there is no open information concerning the budget and personnel. Probably it is separate branch officially called Strategic Missile Forces (guessing by its website URL http://www.smf.gov.sa/).

But RSSMF certainly has one advanced Al-Watah ballistic missile base (found on the satellite images) in the rocky central part of Saudi Arabia, some 200 km south-west of the capital city Riyadh.[32] Two other bases include Al Sulayyil ballistic missile base (the older base located 450 km southwest of Riyadh) and Al Jufayr base (placed 90 km south of Riyadh) share many similarities, suggesting that they share the same role.

The Saudi Arabian Royal Guard Regiment is one of the more visible units . Originally an independent military force, the Royal Guards were incorporated into the Army in 1964. However, the Royal Guards still retained their unique mission of protecting the House of Saud. Units of the Royal Guard protect the King of Saudi Arabia at all times.[33]

The Royal Guards report directly to the king and for security reasons maintain a separate communications network from the regular Army.

Members of the Royal Guard Regiment often wore the flowing white thaub (robe) and white kaffiyah and qutrah (traditional Arab headgear of skullcap and scarf). Royal Guardsmen wear bright green berets when in conventional uniforms.

SANG soldiers receiving mortar training from a U.S. soldier

The Saudi Arabian National Guard is independent of the Ministry of Defense and Aviation and is organized into three mechanized infantry brigades, five infantry brigades, and one ceremonial cavalry squadron.

The Saudi Arabian National Guard is not a reserve but a fully operational front-line force and originated out of Abdul Aziz's tribal military-religious force, the Ikhwan. Its modern existence, however, is attributable to it being effectively Salman's private army since the 1960s and, unlike the rest of the armed forces, is independent of the Ministry of Defense. The SANG has been a counterbalance to the Sudairi faction in the royal family; Salman of Saudi Arabia, the king, is one of the so-called "Sudairi Seven" and controls the remainder of the armed forces. The SANG is equipped with 100 Saudi-manufactured Al-Fahd infantry fighting vehicles.[34] It has been strengthened by the purchase of US$1 billion worth of new armored vehicles from Canada.

Desert Storm, the 1991 liberation of Kuwait and military invasion of Iraq, was launched from Saudi Arabian territory and Saudi Arabian forces participated in the operation

When Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia immediately requested the deployment of U.S. troops within the country to deter further aggression. Saudi forces participated in the subsequent Operation Desert Storm: Saudi pilots flew more than 7,000 sorties and Saudi troops took part in the battles around the Saudi town of Ras al-Khafji.[36]

Since the Persian Gulf War, the United States stationed 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia, a figure that rose to 10,000 during the 2003 conflict in Iraq.[37] Operation Southern Watch enforced the no-fly zones over southern Iraq set up after 1991, as well, the country's oil exports through the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf are protected by the United States Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. It was conducted by Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of the 32nd Parallel (extended to the 33rd Parallel in 1996) in Iraq, following the 1991 Persian Gulf War until the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

This was one of the stated motivations behind the September 11 attacks,[37] as well as the Khobar Towers bombing.[38] Bin Laden interpreted the Islamic prophet, Muhammad as banning the "permanent presence of infidels in Arabia".[39]

On 5 November 2009, the Royal Saudi Land Forces launched a sweeping ground offensive against Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels after they crossed the Saudi border in order to outflank the Yemeni Army, which had launched a military campaign against the Houthis to control and pacify the northern Yemeni mountains, and killed two Saudi border guards. The Saudi forces relied heavily on air power and artillery to soften the rebels without risking their men. The Saudi Army lost 133 soldiers in the fighting against the rebels, with most of the casualties occurring when ground forces tried to move into areas that had been softened by shelling that "raised alarms across the Sunni Arab world about the possibility that Iran might be supporting the Yemeni rebels".[40]