Alpha jet of the Royal Saudi Air Force

Courtesy Armed Forces Office, Royal Saudi Arabian Embassy, Washington

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 outfitte02 tted 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.

Trailer-mounted Hawk missile launcher

Courtesy Armed Forces Office, Royal Saudi Arabian Embassy, Washington

Truck carrying Shahine surface-to-air missiles

Courtesy Armed Forces Office, Royal Saudi Arabian Embassy, Washington

Data as of December 1992