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Saudi Arabia
Royal Saudi Air Force
As of 1992, the first line combat air strength of the Royal Saudi
Air Force (RSAF) consisted of some 200 aircraft, organized into
six fighter/ground-attack squadrons and five fighter-air defense
squadrons. The personnel strength of the air force was estimated
to be about 18,000. Although modest in comparison to the air power
of neighboring countries, the RSAF was considered to be the most
modern and effective of the Saudi services. Its mission was to
defend the economic installations and the widely scattered population
centers of Saudi Arabia against attack and, particularly, to repel
air attacks or amphibious assaults against the country's highly
vulnerable oil pumping stations, processing and loading facilities,
and oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
The first-line combat fighters were deployed at four key airfields:
Dhahran, to defend the main oil facilities of the Persian Gulf;
At Taif, covering the ports and holy cities of the lower Red Sea;
Khamis Mushayt, defending the Yemeni border zone; and Tabuk, to
defend the key ports of the upper Red Sea area and Saudi air space
adjacent to Jordan, Syria, and Israel. These four bases and the
air base at Riyadh were protected from air attack by Improved
Hawk (I-Hawk) SAMs, hardened aircraft shelters, and underground
command posts.
The RSAF was established in 1950 during the reign of Abd al Aziz.
Its early air operations had been under control of the army. In
its initial years, the air force was influenced chiefly by the
British, who provided aircraft and advisers and helped train Saudi
pilots and maintenance personnel in the kingdom and in Britain.
United States influence, emanating from the air base at Dhahran
that was leased by the United States from 1952 to 1962, was also
pivotal to the early development of the Saudi air force. Some
United States aircraft were transferred to the RSAF from units
operating at Dhahran and the United States Military Training Mission
at Dhahran trained Saudi pilots and maintenance personnel.
In 1972 the first of 114 Northrop F-5s were delivered to the
RSAF and, as of 1992, the air force still used three squadrons
of later versions of the F-5 in the fighter-ground attack role,
one squadron for reconnaissance, and a number of aircraft as advanced
jet trainers. In 1984 first deliveries were taken of the more
advanced F-15s. By 1992 the SAF had seventy-eight F-15s, including
fighter conversion trainers (see Cooperation with the United States
, this ch.).
As a result of the United States rebuff, Saudi Arabia turned
to Britain to meet its requirements. In mid-1988, it was announced
that as part of a huge transaction, Saudi Arabia would acquire
Tornado fighters from Britain in their strike and air defense
configurations, plus Hawk jet trainers and Pilatus PC-9 trainers
built in Switzerland and outfitted in Britain. As of early 1992,
three of the RSAF fighter-ground attack squadrons were equipped
with Tornadoes and three squadrons were equipped with F-5Es. Two
air defense squadrons were equipped with Tornadoes and three squadrons
were equipped with F-15Cs. The three transport squadrons were
equipped with C-130s in various versions and CASA C-212s, a medium
transport of Spanish design. The two helicopter squadrons employed
a variety of smaller rotary-wing aircraft (see table 13, Appendix).
Undaunted by its previous failure to establish an assured supply
of combat aircraft from the United States, Saudi Arabia announced
in late 1991 that it had placed an order with McDonnell Douglas
for an additional seventy-two F-15s. It appeared doubtful whether
the sale would be approved by the United States administration
and the Congress.
Because ground-based radar could not provide adequate advanced
warning of attacks on sensitive targets along the Persian Gulf,
particularly from nearby Iranian air bases, Saudi Arabia ordered
five E-3A AWACS aircraft in 1981. To allay Israel's concerns,
the aircraft were equipped specifically for the defensive needs
of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea areas only. The first aircraft
reached operational status in 1987 in time to assist United States
naval operations in the tanker war in the Persian Gulf. Training
and support services were provided by the Boeing Corporation and
a United States Air Force team. Congress required that the United
States have substantial control over the use of the airplanes
and a sharing of the AWACS data.
In 1985 Saudi Arabia also contracted with a consortium headed
by Boeing for the Peace Shield command, control, communications,
and intelligence (C3I) system. Its purpose was to link information
collected by AWACS and ground-based surveillance radar with fighters
and ground air defense, including the I-Hawk SAMs, to provide
integrated air defense against attacks across the gulf and Red
Sea and from the direction of Yemen. In 1991 it was announced
that the Hughes Aircraft Corporation had assumed management of
the project, which had been subject to delays in its completion.
Data as of December 1992
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