A force for good

As guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, as the world’s leading oil producer and as a pillar of the GCC, Saudi Arabia enjoys influence and prestige in the Arabian world and beyond.

Saudi Arabia has undertaken a process of continuous military modernisation and is, arguably, the USA’s most important regional ally at a time of greater ‘burden sharing’ in the maintenance of regional security.

The Royal Saudi Air Force shoulders awesome responsibilities, defending the nation’s 2.2 million sq km of territory and its airspace. It protects the widely scattered population centres and vulnerable oil installations, including drilling platforms on land and in the Gulf, pumping stations, processing and refining facilities and loading and export infrastructure.

Military aviation in Saudi Arabia began in 1926 when Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud became the King of Hejaz. He took over the six, or so, DH9s that had been used by Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali, whose territory he captured.

An RAF mission arrived in 1929 and four Westland Wapitis were supplied to equip the new Hejaz Air Force at the end of the year. The aircraft were used for mail carrying as well as their military role.

The country was named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on September 23 1932 and the air arm became the Royal Saudi Air Force (RASF), moving its main base from Jeddah to Taif in July 1934.

The first Saudi pilots underwent training in Italy in 1935 and flew Caproni Ca-100s and Ca-101s supplied by Italy and a Caudron Renault Pelican donated by France. The Italian mission ended in 1939 and Saudi Arabia started sending pilots to Egypt for training.

Saudi Arabia offered the RAF the use of its aircraft during the Second World War and the RSAF became dormant. Post-war, the air force was reconstituted with British and American assistance, with an initial cadre of pilots training on the Harvard and Spitfire in the UK, and with the US supplying C-47s, T-6s and A-26B Invaders in 1952, 1953 and 1955.

The Harvards were the first aircraft to wear the RSAF’s distinctive green and white roundel and fin flash. Temco Buckaroos and de Havilland Chipmunks were also supplied for training.

The United States leased the air base at Dhahran from 1952 to 1962, and the US Military Training Mission at Dhahran trained Saudi pilots and maintenance personnel, as well as transferring some aircraft to the RSAF.

The relationship with Britain faltered as a result of the 1956 Suez crisis (and an on-going territorial dispute over the Buraimi Oasis, which Britain claimed on behalf of Muscat and Oman) but, as a direct consequence, relations with Nasser’s Egypt briefly thawed, and the RSAF received its first jet fighters in the shape of some 20 ex-Egyptian de Havilland Vampire FB.Mk 52s, which entered service with No5 Squadron at Jeddah in July 1957.

The Vampires were quickly replaced by 16 North American F-86F Sabre fighter bombers, which initially served with No 5 Squadron at Dhahran, alongside No15 Squadron with 10 Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star jet trainers.

The transport force was also strengthened and reinforced, with six Fairchild C-123 Providers augmenting the RSAF’s existing C-47s and two SAA C-54s.

In the late 1950s a study group led by Crown Prince Faisal, a qualified pilot, concluded that Saudi Arabia needed modern air defence radars, supersonic missile-armed and radar-equipped fighters, and modern ground-attack fighter-bombers – together with modern transport aircraft.

But, before suitable procurement programmes could be put in place, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the USA faltered, as a coup in neighbouring Yemen in late 1962 opened up a rift between the United States, which recognised the Egyptian-backed Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), and both the UK and Saudi Arabia, who supported the royalist forces loyal to the deposed Imam. Saudi Arabia and the British were, thereby, pushed closer together.

Britain offered Saudi Arabia Canberra bombers, to the initial fury of the USA, though following the assassination of Kennedy, the USA rapidly became more disenchanted with Nasser’s Egypt and more tolerant of British support for Saudi Arabia.

When the Saudi Arabian Air Defence Scheme was launched, it was with UK and US government support, and comprised a joint Anglo-American bid combining the British Lightning aircraft and British air defence radar with American Raytheon HAWK SAMs.

In December 1965, a contract worth more than £100 million was announced, covering the supply of 40 BAC Lightning interceptors, 25 BAC Strikemaster trainers, a series of Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) radar stations, and the Raytheon Hawk SAM system, with the British company Airwork providing training and technical support.

Before these elements could be delivered, tensions on the Saudi-Yemeni border intensified, with incursions by Egyptian aircraft operating from Yemeni bases.

In February 1966 Prince Sultan requested the loan of an entire RAF squadron ‘to fly under Saudi colours’ but, while this was not deemed politically expedient, the decision was taken to rush six refurbished ex-RAF Lightnings, six Hawker Hunters, an ex-British Army Thunderbird SAM system and four new AEI radar systems to Saudi Arabia under operation ‘magic carpet’. The contract was signed on March 28 1966, with Airwork providing support and personnel, including ‘12 operational pilots’.

The ‘magic carpet’ force was initially stationed at Riyadh from October 1966, moving to its new base at Khamis Mushayt early in 1967 as No6 Squadron. Hunter patrols brought an almost immediate end to Egyptian incursions into Saudi airspace. The ‘magic carpet’ contract ended on March 31 1968, with Pakistani administrative and technical personnel taking over from Airwork.

The main batch of Saudi Lightnings were F.Mk 53s and two-seat T.Mk 55s, all with additional fuel capacity, and with the single-seaters having new air-to-ground and reconnaissance capabilities and expanded weapons options. Deliveries of the 34 F.Mk 53s and six T.Mk 55s began in July 1968 and the type equipped Nos 6, 2 and 13 Squadrons. The Lightning retired from Saudi service in 1986.

At much the same time as the first ‘magic carpet’ Hunters arrived in country, the RSAF also received five C-130E Hercules transports (allowing the C-123Bs to be phased out in 1967) and rotary-wing operations began with Alouette IIIs in 1966, while 24 Agusta Bell AB205s and 16 AB206s were ordered in 1967 and delivered in 1968-69.

The training machine was also revitalised, with the RSAF taking delivery of 47 BAC Strikemaster basic trainers between 1968 and 1977. These equipped Nos 9 and 11 Squadrons within the King Faisal Air Academy – which opened in April 1968 – augmenting the Cessna 172s of No8 Squadron (which performed the primary training role) and the T-33s of No15 Squadron, which undertook advanced training.

British hopes for further success in Saudi Arabia were dashed when a £100M order for SEPECAT Jaguars and helicopters fell through, with the RSAF instead opting for the Northrop F-5E.

The first of 114 Northrop F-5s were delivered in 1972 under the Peace Hawk programme. Most served in the fighter-ground attack role, though one squadron of RF-5Es was procured for tactical reconnaissance, and a number of F-5B aircraft were acquired as advanced jet trainers to replace the T-33 with No15 Squadron. Two-seat F-5Fs went to No7 Squadron to replace the F-86F Sabres, which were withdrawn from use in 1977.

The RSAF gained its first air-to-air refuelling tankers in 1974 in the shape of four KC-130H Hercules.

The RSAF entered the front rank of world air forces in 1984 with the first deliveries of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. The initial order was for 46 F-15Cs and 16 F-15Ds, though a restriction was imposed so that only 60 could be ‘in-country’ at any time.

On June 5 1984, two RSAF F-15Cs operating with a USAF Boeing E-3 Sentry, shot down two intruding Iranian Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms.

Saudi Arabia ordered five E-3A AWACS aircraft in 1981. The first reached operational status in 1987.

In 1985 Saudi Arabia also placed a contract with a Boeing-led consortium for a new command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) system known as ‘Peace Shield’. The system gathered and fused the radar picture collected by the RSAF’s new AWACS aircraft and ground-based surveillance radar and shared the resulting ‘picture’ with fighters and ground-based air defences, including the I-Hawk SAMs, to provide a fully integrated modern air defence network.

While Saudi Arabia was delighted with its Eagles, the number it was allowed to buy was restricted, basing was controlled, and the aircraft were downgraded in some respects – all conditions having been imposed by the US Congress to allay Israeli fees.

As a result, Saudi Arabia turned to Britain as a second source of supply. The first part of the Al Yamamah deal with the UK was signed on September 26 1985, under which Saudi Arabia acquired 48 Tornado IDS strike attack aircraft, 24 Tornado ADV fighters, as well as 30 Pilatus PC-9 basic and 30 BAe Hawk 65 advanced trainers.

A second phase followed on July 3 1988, covering the supply of a further 48 Tornado IDS, 20 PC-9s and 20 BAe Hawk 65As. This made Al Yamamah Britain’s largest defence export contract.

Twelve of the IDS Tornados were delivered with a reconnaissance capability equivalent to that of the RAF’s Tornado GR.Mk 1A. The Tornado ADVs were equivalent to the RAF’s F.Mk 3, and were delivered with the SkyFlash semi-active radar homing AAM. The first six Saudi Tornados were declared operational at Dhahran on April 30 1986.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia called upon the USA to help defend it against possible attack. It also opened its bases for use by coalition forces.

The RSAF joined the coalition air campaign, with the F-5E and Tornado squadrons playing a particularly noteworthy part. The RSAF flew six per cent of coalition sorties – including a total of 1,133 interdiction, and 523 close air support missions.

The Saudi F-15s also played their part and, on January 24 1991, Captain (now Brigadier) Ayedh Al- Shamrani of No13 Squadron shot down a pair of Exocet-armed Iraqi Mirage F1s. The RSAF clocked up 2,050 defensive counter air sorties and 129 offensive.

The RSAF also flew 1,829 airlift sorties, 118 reconnaissance, 85 AWACS and 485 tanker sorties.

A request for 12 further F-15s (nine F-15C and three F-15D) had been turned down in 1989, but this was approved after the Gulf War, which also saw the USAF providing 20 more F-15Cs and four F-15D Eagles from USAFE stocks, taking total F-15C/D deliveries to 98 aircraft (about 78 of which remained operational). The old limit of 60 aircraft in-country was dropped.

After witnessing the effectiveness of the USAF’s F-15E Strike Eagles during Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia wanted to acquire the type. Permission was not initially granted but, after requesting the delivery of 24 single-seat air-to-ground optimised F-15Fs, the US had second thoughts. In 1993, the RSAF was given permission to purchase 72 F-15S aircraft. These were slightly downgraded versions of the F-15E Strike Eagle, initially designated F-15XP, and all were delivered between 1995 and November 1999.

The Saudi F-15S aircraft were upgraded during service, gaining AN/AAQ-33 Sniper advanced targeting pods in place of the original LANTIRN system.

More recently, the RSAF has re-engined its F-15S aircraft with the General Electric F110-GE-129, which does not suffer the same sand ingestion problems as the original F100-PW-229. The work was undertaken by the Saudi Alsalam Aircraft Company.

Defence expenditure has risen from $20.9bn in 2004 to $40.2bn in 2009 (roughly 10 per cent of GDP).

Most recently, a planned $60bn arms sale from the USA to Saudi Arabia was announced, including the supply of 84 new F-15SA fighter-bombers, as well as 178 helicopters of various types.