Will Saudi Ally with Israel to Protect itself from Iranian Drones?

From time to time, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia witnesses attacks on "Aramco" in Abqaiq and Khurais in the Eastern Province by drones and cruise missiles. Riyadh alleges it is Iranian, while the Yemeni "Houthi" group each time claiming these attacks.

These repeated attacks confirmed the inability of the "Saudi air defense forces" to protect the Kingdom's sky and its airspace and that it has become a victim of the increasing intensity of Houthi drone strikes, as US Patriot batteries cannot entirely repel them.

Therefore, Saudi Arabia is solemnly seeking to secretly obtain a system of sensors, missiles, and control centers. It will be able to deal with threats and remediate the continuous failure in this regard.

Anti-Aircraft

Intelligence Online, a French magazine specialized in intelligence affairs, reported that Saudi authorities are putting efforts to obtain an anti-drone weapon system.

"Riyadh is preparing to choose from three contenders to lead a major military program aimed at providing the kingdom with anti-drone cover," the magazine said.

Intelligence Online suggested that the American "Raytheon" company is the most likely to win the contract. The company is already undertaking a maintenance and replacement contract for Patriot missiles.

Raytheon has also provided the Saudi Royal Air Force with a command center for control, command, communications, and intelligence. Alleging they are trying to please Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to have better chances in the coming decades.

The French magazine added, "The second competitor is the American company" L3 Harris "as well, which is doing everything in its power to be adopted by the new structure of the Saudi defense industry."

In February 2021, Raytheon contacted its two-year joint venture with the local Saudi "Sami" company to prove its compatibility with the crown prince's projects.

It also employed some Saudi engineers who worked at the Prince Sultan Institute for Advanced Technology Research, affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, working on the Kingdom's first anti-drone system.

Intelligence Online revealed that MBDA, a company that is also working to promote its command system, is called (Licorne), which combines (Mistral) missiles and (Atlas RC) bombers.

It stated that the main obstacle facing MBDA is the speed of compliance with the requirements of both the Saudi companies, "Jami" and "Sami," to establish a local joint company that enables it to compete more effectively.

It is noteworthy that the Joe Biden administration imposed a ban on selling weapons to Riyadh not to use them in the conflict in Yemen. However, the Pentagon recently sent advisers and forces to help protect the Kingdom from drone attacks, which caused heavy losses to the country at the economic level.

Ongoing Research

There is no doubt that the stormy attack by the "Houthi" against "Aramco" facilities proved the need for an anti-weapon of the same type as it pushed the Saudi armed forces to seek to develop defensive missile capabilities related to drones. In light of the total deficit of the existing American defenses, the outside powers searched for an air defense system capable of protecting their territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took advantage of the current situation, especially amid the political tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Due to the return of US-Iranian talks in October 2019, he Russian weapons to the Kingdom to protect its infrastructure from any attacks.

Putin offered Saudi Arabia an anti-aircraft defense system, as Riyadh decided to deal with Russia politically due to their evident disaffection with the White House.

Corrie Shake, director of defense and foreign policies at the American Enterprise Institute, commented on March 10, 2021, on Saudi Arabia's search for Russia's weapons and defense system, saying: "If I were in the place of the Saudis, I would take a road to Moscow, and another to Beijing, looking for a more trusted partner than the United States."

The Russians were not the only ones concerned to find a solution for the Kingdom's rulers to confront the repeated and worrying attacks. On March 16, 2021, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced, "Saudi Arabia wants to buy armed drones from Turkey."

Despite the significant differences between Ankara and Riyadh, which have begun to dissolve partially, the prominent Turkish defense companies have acquired several armament contracts inside the Kingdom, and negotiations are underway regarding the Turkish advancements.

 Iron Dome

The Crown Prince may resort to cooperate with Israel to bypass the Iranian Houthi threat, especially since the beginning of the Yemen war and the launch of Operation Decisive Storm in March 2015, the "Houthi" launched hundreds of missiles towards Saudi Arabia.

Nearly 100 citizens were victims of marches and strikes.

On September 12, 2019, the "Gulf Online" website revealed that negotiations between Tel Aviv and Riyadh are taking place. Both countries are planning to purchase an Iron Dome system on the border with Yemen.

The Gulf website stated that Saudi Arabia recently endeavored to obtain the "Israeli" Iron Dome system and negotiate with the Israeli side to sell it through intense mediation by Washington. During the secret triple meetings in America, as part of the file of normalization and communication between Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

Filling in the Gaps

The military failure of Saudi air defenses aroused the media and military analysts to explain the reasons. In September 2019, the Russian Interfax website stated that "the air defense system in Saudi Arabia includes 88 (Patriot) systems and 3 American equipped destroyers. With the (Aegis), air defense systems stationed in the Gulf waters cannot protect Saudi Arabia from marches.

"The Saudis believe that the American Patriot system did not provide anything to their country, nor did it protect it from Houthi aircraft, which have repeatedly targeted oil installations, service interests, and Saudi cities," the site reported. 

On September 25, 2019, Michael Knights, a military expert at the Washington Institute for Studies, presented research entitled "Bridging the Gaps in Saudi Air Defenses."

The research said: "There is no mysterious secret as to why the kingdom failed to intercept the recent attack on Abqaiq and Khurais, as its air defenses exceeded their capacity, and greatly lacked coordination, not to mention that they did not operate in an atmosphere ripe for war."

He added, "This failure does not mean that the drone strikes will succeed every time, but it confirms the necessity of providing practical defense assistance from the outside and restoring deterrence against Iran."