Defense Forces Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia




1 defense forces

1.1 army
1.2 royal navy
1.3 royal air forces
1.4 royal air defense
1.5 royal strategic forces





defense forces
army


saudi arabian army uh-60 blackhawk helicopter during operation desert shield


army composed of 3 armored brigades, 5 mechanized brigades, 1 airborne brigade, 1 royal guard brigade, , 8 artillery battalions. army has 1 aviation command 2 aviation brigades.


the army s main equipment consists of combination of french- , u.s.-made armored vehicles: 315 m–1a2 abrams, 290 amx–30, , 450 m60a3 main battle tanks; 300 reconnaissance vehicles; 570+ amx–10p , 400 m–2 bradley armored infantry fighting vehicles; 3,000+ m113 , 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; 2,000 antitank guided weapons; 200 rocket launchers; 450 recoilless launchers; 12 attack helicopters; 50+ transport helicopters; , 1,000 surface-to-air missiles.


in 1996 saudi arabia had military cities in northeast, king khalid military city, @ tabuk, @ dharhran, , @ abha in southwest. there 1996 report construction of military city @ jizan, orientated toward yemen, had begun defence minister prince sultan pouring first concrete on 8 may 1996.


royal navy


hms makkah , al riyadh class frigate


navy divided 2 fleets: western fleet has bases in jeddah, jizan, , al wajh; eastern fleet has bases in al jubayl, ad dammam, ras mishab, , ras al ghar. marines organized 1 infantry regiment 2 battalions.


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


royal air forces


eurofighter typhoon


air force organized in 7 fighter/ground-attack squadrons, 6 fighter squadrons, , 7 training squadrons. saudi arabia has @ least 15 active military airfields.


as of 2011, saudi arabia has around 300 combat aircraft. kingdom s combat aircraft newly acquired typhoons , upgraded tornado ids, f-15 eagle , f-15e strike eagle fighter planes. saudi arabia has further 80+ f-15 eagles on order , option buy 72 typhoons.


royal air defense


astros ii mlrs


air defense part of army until 1981 when made separate service. operates peace shield state-of-the-art radar , air defense system consisting of command operations center @ riyadh, , main operating bases @ dhahran, taif, tabuk, khamis mushait , al kharj. total system includes 164 sites.


the system equipment comprises 17 general electric an/fps-117 long-range 3d radars, 6 northrop grumman an/tps-43 tactical radars, , raytheon improved hawk air defence missile system.


royal strategic forces


df-21


royal saudi strategic missile forces (rssmf) equipped chinese df-3a (css-2) dongfeng missile sold saudi arabia china. conventional high-explosive warhead (2150 kg) variant of dongfeng 3a intermediate-range ballistic missile developed export order saudi arabia in 1987. 30~120 missiles , 9~12 launchers reportedly delivered in 1988, though no known test launch has ever been made in country. strategical missile forces top secret, there no open information concerning budget , personnel. separate branch officially called strategic missile forces (guessing website url http://www.smf.gov.sa/).


but rssmf has 1 advanced al-watah ballistic missile base (found on satellite images) in rocky central part of saudi arabia, 200 km south-west of capital city riyadh. 2 other bases include al sulayyil ballistic missile base (the older base located 450 km southwest of riyadh) , al jufayr base (placed 90 km south of riyadh) share many similarities, suggesting share same role.








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