Saudi forces

The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF) ( ar, القُوَّات المُسَلَّحَة العَرَبِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, Al-Quwwat al-Musallahah al-Malakiyah as-Su’ūdiyah), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces, are the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Saudi Arabian Land Forces (or Army), the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, and the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. The King of Saudi Arabia is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior. The five Armed Forces are among eight military forces of Saudi Arabia, with the others including the Saudi Arabian National Guard (under the administrative control of the Ministry of National Guard), the Saudi Royal Guard Regiment and Saudi Arabian Border Guards.

The Royal Saudi Armed Forces are one of the best-funded in the world,http://uk.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-spends-25-of-its-budget-on-its-military-2015-12" , 31 December 2015, having the world's sixth largest defense budget.

International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates in 2021 listed a total of 192,000 personnel (110,000 RSLF; 30,500 Navy; 23,000 Air Force; 20,000 Air Defense; and Strategic Missile Forces 5,500). The RSLF figure is a powerful force. The National Guard, with 100,000. The IISS Military Balance lists reserve personnel when reliable figures are available, but did not list any reserve personnel for Saudi Arabia.

History

The first steps towards building an institutionalised armed force for Saudi Arabia began in the 1940s, when Saudi regulars numbered perhaps 1,000–1,500, Gaub saying that officers mostly came from the Ottoman troops who had served the Sharif of Mecca before his being expelled in 1924. A Ministry of Defense was created in 1943; a military school founded in Taif, and the United Kingdom began efforts to try to build a professional force. After the failure of this UK programme, a subsequent U.S. programme which ran from 1951 also failed to reach its objective (the creation for three to five Regimental Combat Teams. Growth of the armed forces was slowed to some 7,500–10,000 by 1953. Continued enlargement came to a halt in the late 1950s due to internal Saudi power struggles (including two plots by senior officers) and geo-political concerns, namely the Free Officers Revolution in Egypt followed by a brutal Baathist coup in Iraq, wherein expanded post-colonial Arab armies overthrew the domestic monarchies they had sworn allegiance too in 1952 and 1958 respectively. These event led the Saudis to the rational conclusion their own military could potentially pose a greater threat to their line than any of their neighbors. In the decades that followed, though the Kingdom experienced unprecedented economic expansion and modernization; the Royal Armed Forces remained contained. From the late 1950s to the late 1970s, the Saudis did expand and modernize their military but at a stagnate rate, this despite the fact the region was regularly at war. In 1969, South Yemeni forces attacked the Kingdom along the border but were swiftly defeated by Royal and allied forces. When the Yom-Kippur War broke out in 1973, Saudi Arabia used " Oil as a weapon", to aid the Arab cause; this strategy significantly influenced world opinion against Israel though to what extent is remains unclear. Following these successes, the Saudis would pursue only limited increased support for their armed forces in the wake of the Grand Mosque Seizure in 1979. In the 1980s Saudi Arabia became a major source of financial but not military assistance, for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, and the regime of Saddam Hussein in its war against Revolutionary Iran. The 1991 Gulf War saw the greatest threat to the Kingdom in modern history and the largest deployment of Saudi Armed Forces in history, with all levels of the Saudi military actively participating as part of the U.N. coalition against Iraq.

In 1987, members of the air force, army, and navy used to be mainly recruits from groups of people without a strong identity from the Nejd tribal system and people from urban areas.

King Abdullah increasingly moved towards comprehensive military reform following what he considered a failed response by Saudi forces to Houthi incursions in 2009.

In the early 2010s, after almost 20 years of relatively modest increases in military spending, the Saudi government embarked an unprecedented expansion of the Kingdom's armed forces. This shift in policy was spear-headed primarily by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who took over as Defense Minister in 2015. It is believed the continued high level expansion of the Saudi Armed Forces was a response to not only short term threats (including incursions by Yemeni rebels and the rise of ISIS) but long term regional strategic concerns, namely the increasing strength of Iran and the uncertain future of America's role in the region.

In 2019, the government of Saudi Arabia stated that women can start working in the military. In the past they could only work in police.

Military services

The armed forces are mainly the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, which also oversees the construction of civilian airports as well as military bases, and meteorology departments.

Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz was Saudi Arabia's Minister of Defense and Aviation from 1962 to 2011. The vice minister, Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, was his full brother and served until November 2011. His oldest son, Khalid bin Sultan, was appointed assistant minister in 2001 and was in office until April 2013.

Defense spending

Spending on defense and security has increased significantly since the mid-1990s and was about US$67 billion in 2013. Saudi Arabia ranks among the top five nations in the world in government spending for its military, representing about 9% of GDP in 2013. Its modern, high-technology arsenal makes Saudi Arabia among the world's most densely armed nations, with its military equipment being supplied primarily by the United States, France, and Britain."Country Profile: Saudi Arabia"
, September 2006, United States Library of Congress According to SIPRI, in 2010–14 Saudi Arabia became the world's second largest arms importer, receiving four times more major arms than in 2005–2009. Major imports in 2010–14 included 45 combat aircraft from the United Kingdom, 38 combat helicopters from the U.S., 4 tanker aircraft from Spain and over 600 armored vehicles from Canada. Saudi Arabia has a long list of outstanding orders for arms, including 27 more combat aircraft from the United Kingdom, 154 combat aircraft from the U.S. and a large number of armoured vehicles from Canada.

The United States sold more than $80 billion in military hardware between 1951 and 2006 to the Saudi military. In comparison, the Israel Defense Forces received $53.6 billion in U.S. military grants between 1949 and 2007. On 20 October 2010, U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history—an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represented a considerable improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces. The United States emphasized that the arms transfer would increase "interoperability" with U.S. forces. In the Persian Gulf War, having U.S.-trained Saudi Arabian forces, along with military installations built to U.S. specifications, allowed the U.S. military to deploy in a comfortable and familiar battle environment. This new deal would increase these capabilities, as an advanced American military infrastructure is about to be built. The U.S. government was also in talks with Saudi Arabia about the potential sale of advanced naval and missile-defense upgrades.

The United Kingdom has also been a major supplier of military equipment to Saudi Arabia since 1965.