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Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia
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Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia
The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF) (Arabic: القُوَّات العَرَبِيَّة المُسَلَّحَة السُّعُودِيَّة, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Arabīyah al-Musallahah as-Su’ūdiyah), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces (Arabic: القُوَّات المُسَلَّحَة المَلكِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Musallahah al-Malakiyah as-Su’ūdiyah), is part of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Royal Saudi 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 Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the military 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 Royal Saudi National Guard (under the administrative control of the Ministry of National Guard), the Royal Saudi Guard Regiment and the Royal Saudi Border Guards.
The Royal Saudi Armed Forces are one of the best-funded in the world, having the world's sixth largest defense budget.
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 he was 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 to in 1952 and 1958, respectively. These events led the Saudis to the conclusion that the military could pose a greater threat than their neighbors. In the decades that followed, though the Kingdom experienced economic expansion and modernization; the Royal Armed Forces remained small. From the late 1950s to the late 1970s, the Saudis expanded and modernized their military but at a slow pace. 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.
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.
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Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia
The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF) (Arabic: القُوَّات العَرَبِيَّة المُسَلَّحَة السُّعُودِيَّة, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Arabīyah al-Musallahah as-Su’ūdiyah), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces (Arabic: القُوَّات المُسَلَّحَة المَلكِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Musallahah al-Malakiyah as-Su’ūdiyah), is part of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Royal Saudi 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 Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the military 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 Royal Saudi National Guard (under the administrative control of the Ministry of National Guard), the Royal Saudi Guard Regiment and the Royal Saudi Border Guards.
The Royal Saudi Armed Forces are one of the best-funded in the world, having the world's sixth largest defense budget.
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 he was 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 to in 1952 and 1958, respectively. These events led the Saudis to the conclusion that the military could pose a greater threat than their neighbors. In the decades that followed, though the Kingdom experienced economic expansion and modernization; the Royal Armed Forces remained small. From the late 1950s to the late 1970s, the Saudis expanded and modernized their military but at a slow pace. 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.
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.
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