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Saudi Arabia
National Security
DURING ITS INFANCY in the 1930s, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
needed little as far as national security was concerned-- protection
of the king and the royal family, safety of the holy places, and
nominal defense of its territory, much of which needed no other
protection than that provided by its natural desolation. Sixty
years later, however, as producer and largest exporter of oil
and owner of about one-fourth of all proven reserves, the land
of the Al Saud (the House of Saud) was in the world limelight.
Its security was of major international concern, not only because
the economies of many industrialized countries depended on Saudi
oil, but because of the kingdom's contribution to stability and
political moderation in the Middle East.
King Abd al Aziz ibn Abd ar Rahman Al Saud, restorer of Al Saud
and founder of the kingdom in 1932, had many sons, four of whom
(all born to different mothers) have succeeded him to the throne.
The defense and security organizations introduced under Abd al
Aziz and particularly promoted by King Faisal ibn Abd al Aziz
Al Saud during his reign (ruled 1964-75), have grown and developed
into three independent entities: the armed forces, the paramilitary
forces of the national guard, and the police and security forces
of the Ministry of Interior. In 1992 King Fahd ibn Abd al Aziz
Al Saud, who had been on the throne for a decade, was at the apex
of the security system, which was headed by three amirs (princes)
of the royal family--all sons of Abd al Aziz. The regular armed
forces--army, navy, air force, and air defense force--were under
the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, headed by Amir Sultan ibn
Abd al Aziz Al Saud. The internal security and police functions,
and paramilitary frontier guard elements were under Amir Nayif
ibn Abd al Aziz Al Saud, the minister of interior. The Saudi Arabian
National Guard, charged with the protection of vital installations,
maintaining internal security, and supporting the Ministry of
Defense as required, was headed by Amir Abd Allah ibn Abd al Aziz
Al Saud, who was also crown prince.
The manpower of the regular armed forces was estimated by the
London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies to
be 106,000 in 1992. The army was reported to have 73,000 personnel;
the navy, 11,000; the air force, 18,000; and the air defense forces,
4,000. The active-duty strength of the national guard was believed
to be about 55,000; part-time tribal levies accounted for 20,000
more.
Despite the tens of billions of dollars spent on modernizing
its armed forces, the kingdom remained vulnerable. Although the
communist threat in the region had dissipated, the country's oil
wealth made it a potential target for radical states with more
powerful military establishments. The nation's defense presented
complex problems. Its territory was as large as the United States
east of the Mississippi River, and the limited Saudi forces had
to be concentrated in widely scattered areas of greatest strategic
sensitivity. Its stronger neighbors had greater experience in
warfare and had larger numbers under arms. Although the country
had never faced a direct threat of invasion, its situation changed
dramatically in August 1990 when Iraq occupied Kuwait and massed
its troops on Saudi Arabia's northern border. The national guard
was rushed to the border, but it was clear that Saudi forces alone
would be unable to prevent Iraq from seizing the Saudi and Persian
Gulf states' oil assets. King Fahd accordingly turned to the United
States and others for help.
A Saudi general, the son of the minister of defense and aviation,
was named co-commander of Operation Desert Storm, the allied campaign
that drove the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in February 1991. The
Saudi army had its first taste of combat operations, combining
with United States forces and forces from a number of Western
and other Arab states to liberate Kuwait City. The kingdom pledged
more than US$16.8 billion to support the United States costs of
deploying its forces and to provide financial assistance to other
countries that contributed forces to Desert Storm or were disadvantaged
by compliance with sanctions imposed against Iraq. The war exposed
the country's need for improved deterrence, and King Fahd announced
that a major expansion of the armed forces would be carried out
during the remainder of the 1990s. His goals included a doubling
of the army's size, the creation of a new reserve system, and
additional combat aircraft for the air force and warships for
the navy.
The army was the senior and largest of the services as well as
the most influential in the military hierarchy and the government.
The chief of staff of the armed forces has invariably been an
army general. The air force was second in seniority, enjoying
considerable popularity among the younger members of the royal
family and other elites who joined to train as pilots and held
many of the commands. The air force was the first line of defense
against surprise attack aimed at Persian Gulf oil installations.
Its skilled pilots flew thousands of sorties in the Persian Gulf
War and repelled Iranian intrusions during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq
War. In the judgment of the United States Department of Defense,
the air force and the national guard, the two branches with the
closest affiliation with the United States, were the most combat-ready
and reliable of the armed services during the Persian Gulf crisis.
The air defense force, separated from the army in the mid1980s
, operated fixed and mobile antiaircraft missile systems that
guarded cities, oil facilities, and other strategic sites, chiefly
along the Persian Gulf. These missile systems, along with the
combat aircraft and ground radar stations, were linked to the
Peace Shield air defense network, which depended heavily on surveillance
by aircraft of the Saudi-operated and United Statessupported airborne
warning and control system (AWACS).
The Saudi navy remained a coastal force operating from bases
along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Its potential was growing
with the delivery of four French guided-missile frigates in the
mid-1980s and three more scheduled to be commissioned in the mid1990s
. The navy assisted in escort and minesweeping operations in the
Persian Gulf during the tense "tanker war" period of the 1980s.
A problem shared by all four armed services was the constant
need for personnel qualified to operate and maintain a mixed inventory
of advanced equipment and weapons. The limited pool of military
recruits had forced Saudi Arabia to rely heavily on high technology.
The Saudi policy of purchasing its weapons from diverse military
suppliers contributed to the problem and introduced a hybrid character
to the services that hampered their overall efficiency.
The special military relationship between the United States and
Saudi Arabia since the mid-1940s has been built around United
States policy to promote stability and peace in the Persian Gulf
region. Although the two countries had no agreement on basing
or facilities, Saudi Arabia has sought United States deployments
of ships and fighter or surveillance aircraft in emergency situations.
The huge scale of the Saudi base complexes and the interoperability
of equipment have facilitated such deployments.
Initially, United States assistance consisted of weapons and
equipment and of advisers to develop the organization and to help
train Saudi forces. Since the mid-1960s, with the rise in oil
revenues, the Saudis have been able to pay for the needed arms,
equipment, and instructors, as well as for the services of the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, which was responsible for
the construction of bases, military housing, and other facilities.
Until 1990, less than 20 percent of approximately US$60 billion
in military sales was for weapons; most expenditures were for
infrastructure, maintenance, spare parts, and training. The need
for new weapons and replenishment of stocks used during the Persian
Gulf War triggered a surge of new military orders that were pending
as of 1992. Faced with political obstacles in obtaining United
States arms, the Saudis have maintained supply relationships with
other countries, notably Britain and France, which have had training
missions in the kingdom for many years. The number of Western
military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia has deliberately
been kept to a minimum, but large numbers of civilians--under
contract to corporations--have worked in the kingdom in training,
maintenance, and logistics functions.
Data as of December 1992
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