CIAO DATE: 07/02

Saudi Military Forces Enter the 21st Century: The Saudi Air Defense Force

Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair for
Strategy Center for Strategic and International Studies

The Center for Strategic and International Studies

April 4, 2002

The Saudi Air Defense Force

The Saudi Air Force has significant air defense capabilities, and the Saudi Army has growing mobile air defenses to cover its forces. Saudi Arabia also has a separate Saudi Air Defense Corps to provide fixed and mobile land-based air defense of key targets throughout Saudi Arabia. This force was created in 1984 to establish a separate professional service, dedicated to the relatively high technology air defense mission, and to reduce the manpower quality and leadership problems that emerged when these air defense forces were subordinated to the army.

The Air Defense Corps has since been given command over Saudi Arabia's Patriot theater anti-ballistic missile defenses and its PRC-supplied CSS-2 surface-to-surface missiles. It is subordinate to the Air Force for C 4 I and battle management in time of war. ₁

Full Text (PDF, 18 pages, 125K)

Endnotes

Note 1: Unless otherwise specified, the military data quoted here are taken from the relevant country sections of various annual editions of the IISS, Military Balance; CIA, The World Factbook; Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, The Middle East Military Balance, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv; on-line editions of Jane's Sentinel series and Periscope, Jane's Intelligence Review, and Jane's Defense Weekly. The cut-off date for such material is January 2002. Other sources include interviews with Saudi officials and military inside and outside of Saudi Arabia, US experts, and British experts. These are not identified by source by request of those interviewed. They also include the author's publications and other sources mentioned at the start of the section on Saudi Arabia, Dr. Andrew Rathmell, "Saudi Arabia's Military Build-up — An Extravagant Error," Jane's Intelligence Review, November, 1994, pp. 500-504; Andrew Rathmell, The Changing Balance in the Gulf, London, Royal United Services Institute, Whitehall Papers 38, 1996; Edward B. Atkenson, The Powder Keg, Falls Church, NOVA Publications, 1996. they include various editions of USCENTCOM, Atlas, 1, MacDill Air Force Base; Jane's Land-Based Air Defense; Jane's Military Vehicles and Logistics; Jane's Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems ; Jane's C4I Systems Back