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PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs PE9 1X@ 1M The establishment of a second Soudi Tornado ADV squadron, 48 of which were ordered in the Peace Bird contract, was interrupted by the Gulf wer. 240) ILITARY AVIATION in Sausi Arabia dates back Yo te eary 1920s won Royal Ar Porce OHS aera wore ven 1 the Kingdom fo add range and speed {2th cific task of potcing tomadie and Sccasionally essen tibesmen over vast stances of innosptable tora. In 1987, the Malan goverment. ancous to expand iis intlvenge trom the Hor of Africa into the [Rrabian Peninsula, presented the King with three bplanes fo supplement the agen and ‘odueed DH. fost. By 1938, the Kingson's ar frm possessed rine ara 157 personnel and hada bases at Jeddah and’ Dhanran Fowever, wih the outbreak of warn 1999 the imerest ofthe Word Powers in courting hs ‘elavely nsignttean area of the masa east waned, despite early indications at large epost of of existed winin Saud Arab "fhe end of Word War Two brought & now awareness of he potental power of fe inch Dunes ofthe middle east and the Britsh Government set about fe-estalisning this Infuence nthe area, n 1547, an ex AAP C47 vias precried tothe Kingdom ruse bythe yal Family anc was appropriately” coded SA'RI (Saudi Arabia Royal 1?). In 1950, a ‘Sal Brith adncory and ang mission was Son to Saudi Arabia and az a result of te fecommondaton the Royal Saud Ar Force, oF ‘Av Gumwat al Jawwiya as Sa'verya was AFM SEPTEMBER formed. Athough technically an independent {orca within the joint Armed Forces Command, ifwas in realty an extension of the Saudi ‘army. "The Briish Mission's invoWement was short lived, probably as a result of he influence ‘exerted by the US Government through their partnership wih the Saudis in ARAMCO, which Was engaged in prospecting for, and ‘veloping the Kingdom vast oll reserves. In Fetuen, for over-flying rights and for the evelopment of a iansit facity at Dhalvan, 3 United States Miltary Air Advisory Group (USMAAG) arrived in Saudi in 1952 to rain the fembrya R Saud AF; with them came tho fst ‘Saud AF airerat, ten Temco Buckaroo primary trainers, six T-6 advanced trainers and tes C47 transports intial, some pilots were trained by the LUSMAAG in Saud while others were trained by Airwork Services and Air Service Training in tte UK with the most promising students receiving advanced Instruction tram the Royal Air Foree. Although working to a similar Sylabus, it became apparent thatthe emphasis. on Walning differed between the three schools nd the product was of a disparate quality However, wih the accession of Crown Prince "bn Saud othe throne n 1953, came a change in poley withthe majority ofthe taining of ‘Saud AF personnel being undertaken in Egypt AGRE by the Egyptian Ar Force. In'1958 the ASAF received its frst combat aierat with the delivary of three ex-USAF B: 268 bombers. The aircrat were assigned to 3 ‘Sqn at Jeddah but due to poor spares support and a lack of rained crews, the aircraft Saw litte fling. During the following year, the Buckatoos were replaced on.8 San by Chipmunk 7.20 whilst ih 1957 six more B-25B6 were delivered to 2 Sqn and four Vampire FB.52s from the Egyptian Government Provided the Intl equipment for the formation 615 Squadron. in Apri 1987, the US Government reached agreement with Saudi Arabia Tor additional fights for use of the Dhahran Air Base by the UBAF. In exchange, he szo and scope o the USMAAG was increased with additional ‘erat being given tothe Kingoom’ alr force Six C-1238 Providers joined the ©-47s of 4 San while 6 Sqn was expanded by the arrival of additional instructors and a quantity of Boson A-45 Mentor, North American T-28A fand Lockheed 1-32 arora RSAF's defensive capablity was in theo atleast enhanced by the arial of ten F-86 Sabres which equipped 5 Sqn. However, the Sabres wore unarmed and like the Invaders land Vampires before them, remained under Uilsed due toa ack a alr and spares. Political climate in the middle east was >‘DEFENDERS OF THE FAITHFUL ' Bombed up ond ready to ‘on non-operational sorte during Desert Storm. on Bac) 1 A trio of Sikorsky $-70A Desert Howk toticalutlity helicopters which have seats for 15 troops. (Story) me 90 F-5E Tiger Ils equip three squodrons and remain the backbone of the RSAF's close support feree. (Dusan Cab) ”beginning to change with supgont for socialism rang sauna Preset Rea’ EB lations betwoon Egypt and the vaciiona nares bapa fol and hearing $Souat plots in Egypt was curtaleg. The Surtable personel Yo operate the defensive flement othe AGAF led the inion the Pakstani Air Fores to fly and marvain the pew acqured Sabre et. This began @ long {svodiaton that sil ox ody SAF High Command realised, howover, the ‘shortcomng of fe taining programme as well fag the Imation of tallance Upon cortract personnel. In co-operation with USMAAG, few training colleges were bull at Dhafvan Fiyagn and Jecaah to prove an’ intensive train or naonas aspiring fo a carer inthe SAF. Graduates. were than sen tothe USA for advanced technical and fying vaing Before this programme could come to fruition. an. Egypan backs. coup In naghooirng Nott verven deposed he ‘Supported ruler in 1962. A border war ensued yptian 11-26. and MiG-17 making Frequent atacte on Saud viages. The saang forge of 8-26 and F-86 wore Incapable o Catching the hiand-un altackors and as an Ittrim measure the F068 were fown fo West Germany for ran overhaul while negatatons wore started win France, UK and the USA fo Seok.a modern air defence and training B ‘In December 1965, contracts were signed for an Anglo-American package which woud Considerably ennance the RAT'S delensve Ais cludes forty Lightning, F377 $5 fighters, 25 Sonate bs, Hawk silace so sirimiites and a quantity of AQM38 Supersonic target drones. In adgiton, an Smorgoncy defence package ot Hunters, tightsingg and’ Thunderaa, SAMS” was pufcnased rom the UK'as an intorm soliton {D'he nadequacy of the crrent a dooce system, “The aifild at Khamis Kushayt in the south west of the Kingdom and some 100km from the border wih North Yemen, was prepared for Use by jet aircraft while a force of ex-RAF Hunter and Lightning pilots was recruited by Airwork Services: Some SAF plots were alsO ent tothe UK for conversion traning "The Hunter element, now designated 6 San, deployed to Khamis Mushayt in June 1966, Wi the Lightnings arriving on staon the next Year. Although, due primarly to an inadequate feportng and aleing system, the adversaries never came to blows, tne presence of the potent force was sufficient for the Yemeni Air Fores to concede aerial superiority and the air incursion ceased. The interim aircraft wer Dhased out cf service between 1968-1970 wih {he artval ofthe new build Lightings for 2 and 6 Sqne based at Dhahran and Khamis Mushayt respectively and Stikemasters for 9 ‘and 11 Sqns at Riyadh, A Saudi 13 Sqn F-15C Eagle undergoing maintenance at Ohchran during the build upto Desert Storm. on Bl) ae ‘weapons training roles, (ou Jaen Glow: A two-seat FSF Tiger It based ot Tif, ‘acquired as port ofthe Peace Hawk programme in the ecrly 1970s and in need of Feplacement. (02) 1 british Hawk 1.65 trainers replaced Strikemostrs in the edvonced flying traning end During the period, 1965-1970, orders were ish a helicopier element, enhance the traning programme and increase the transport Tn1966, an order for sx ‘Aovette lis was followed the flowing year by fan order for sixteen AB-206 and twenty four ‘AB.205A hal In the same year, 1367, fight Cesena C1725 were delivered te King Faisal Ar Academy at Flyadh to form 8 Sqn. In 41968 16 Sqn formed at Riyadh with an mial equipment of four C-130E. An adaitonal eight F8gF joined the RSAF in May 1968 and together wih the remaining Sabres from 5 San formed 7 Squadron tasked with Weapons ‘Training as par of the OCU. ‘with ine arrival of the C1725 and ‘sitkemasiors came the reorganisation of the fying wainng programme. The Ct72s of 8 Sqn provided Initial pilot aptitude testing and primary lying training whilst 8 and 11 Squadrons provided basic and advanced training respectively. The Operational Conversion. Unt comprised 7 ‘Sqn with twenty FSdF and 15 Squadron wi thiteen T-39As. Im December 1970, the border war again apps ‘8 tankers of 18 Sqn based at Al Khar (An Hs) ‘Additional KE-3As willbe required under the Peace Shield programmes to suppliment the 1 The main RSAF transport type isthe C-130H Hercules, which with @ number of KC-130s, ‘equip 16 Sqn based at Riyadh. (Duncn bit) Serene aes cla eae ar Mashay wore reiiorced with F86 ara and together, these ara operated Inthe ground attack role to route 2 major offensive against {ha Kingdom of Save Arabia mounted fom the Yemen “Throughout the 1970s, the Saudi {government continued 1 expand the warning, Relcopter and transport elements of ts A Foroe, with ordors being placed for Cessna ‘72, Sitkemastor SOA, AB'212, 5-81, KV.107 ‘and 6-190 avrat: se of tho itor wore the RE saat modal ae major re-equipment ofthis period was the phases introduction into sesvice of the Nowbrop F°5 Tiger li under he Peace Hawk programme, An tial order paced in $071 Was for twenty FSB and thity ESE Tiger Sircrah. Dalivered betwoen 1872 and 974, ‘hese srrat became tho nucleus ot potent lose-ar suppor foree with secondary air ‘Selence rls intial waning was cared oxt by S35 Sqn on the #58 wth tho responsbity for {ype conversion faling t0'3 Sqn. Advanced ‘Weapon training and fighter tactes were taught by tho sta at 7 San A tolow-on ore fr fory F-5E Tiger ils and twonly P'SFE was signed 1974 and delivery 1 Blow: Saudi Arabia hos ordered the Airtech ‘CN-235M freighter to supplement the C-130, fleet. (CASA) a de chro eee iene eee Sepeamacuteietas etal Serta ie Fad already replaced the Lightning P53, Gaia reas ere eee mca keer ee Ertegmeseenass jira sea eas pene nel pees ereraces ieee ae eee eae ca ate tees ore Tee cea vee peti eels esUon me armen tceecamaris ne ee pee ene eae ee eee ro shanna ee ino Snares SE ee tae ua ay Sena ne eles See aerate a ps ene Sense ences eas, cea cal ie meas eae ee ee Seer ee aces eee eee ae ae aren ree ae Fe alge ere at oa See ae ee ae 2 Eee et ine Bet eA ee aseventeen long range General Electric ANIFPS-117 (V) radars and the fve Boeing ESA arcratt. ‘The system wil eventual be drivon by three hundred computers interconnected by an independent telecommunication network and liked tothe Kingdomes extensive surface-to Sir cotencive mise bet Utmately, fs inteded that Peace Shield wil be extended to cover the countries of the Gull Co-operative. Councl namely, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab mate and Oman nowever, the Cost of this wil be enormous and wil also require the purchase Of four addtional E-3As and seven supporting tankers ‘Since delveres ofthe Saud AWACS were not planned to commence unl November 1985, the USAF detached a force of E-3A and supporting tanker fo Riyadh in October 1980 folowing the commencement of hostiies between ran and trea “The fst F-15s arrived in Dhatran to equip 13 san in July 1982 with § Sqn at Taif and 6 Son at Khamis Mushayt re-equipping in tum during 41983, Peace Sun, as the Eagle programme was known, also included a $1.5 bilo project for ‘he provision of hardened sheters (HAS) and on site technical support by the aircraft's, ‘manutacturer, McDonnell Douglas. The ASA F:16 force gained te ret aerial victory when a pit from 13 San shot down an arian At Force F-4 which infringed Saudi airspace on Sth June 1984 Following year saw the completion o the bul yp of the F-5 I fleet with the delivery of 10 F-SE Tigereye aeraft to 17 San at Tabuk These aiecraft provided @ much needed and ecicated tactical reconnaissance element to an ‘otherwise sel sutficent force. inal total of 109 F-5 Tiger il variants saw service with the SAF and at least nneteen have been lost over the last seventeen years. Despite the Reagan administration's desire to ‘support Saudi Arabia 38a pila of stability in a ‘olatie region further exacerbated by the ran Iraq confit, efforts to sol substantial quantities fof arms to the Kingdom were strenuously ‘9pposed by the Amoricar-lsrael Pubic Affairs Commitee number of deals, incuding Proposals o sll forty eight F-15E Strike Eagles land large quantiles of Maverick air-to-ground and Stinger surface-to-air missles, wore Gefeated by the Committee which feared that F-15E would give the Saudis the capability to attack targets deep inside lsrael, equally, they wore concemed tat the Stingers could end up 1 Copoble of carrying 20mm cannon pods contract. (ics) in the hands of Arab extremists. in frustration, the Save Goverranent tured to European suppliers to satisfy its requirement to upgrade and modernise the Air Force. Eventualy, and against strong competion rom the French avoraft industry, the Al Yamahman 2¢ Peace Bid contract was signe with BAe In September 1985. It was for a total of one hhundred and thity four aircraft comprising 48 Tomade IDS, 24 Tomado ADV, 30 Hawks, 30 Pilatus PC-9'ana two Jetstream 31 “The PC-9 and Hawk ara were intended to replace the ageng Stkomasters lor orimary and ‘advanced fying traning whist the Tomado ADV ‘would supplement the F-15 force; the Tornado IDS would provide thelong sought attr offensive ‘capabiy. In truth, the Al Yamahmah contract ‘was probably litle’ more than a warning to the Americans, While the traning aircraft were intensic tothe further development of the Saudi AF Force, delivery of the Tornado could have been cancelled oF dveried (at Saudi expense) toother Gulf A Forces had the Congress ited the restetion on arms sales to the Kingdom, in ily 1986, the fret E-3A arcraft was delvred to 18 Sqn at Riyadh under the Peace ‘Sentinal project. Three more folowed during the ‘same year with the fifth and final one avin in ‘lune 1987" The eight KE-3A agcratt were all s, TOW, Hellfire or Stinger misiles, 15 Boll 406CS ‘Combat Scouts have been delivered to Saudi Arabia el) 1 Thirty Pilatus PC-9 edvanced trainers wore ordered from BAe as prt ofthe Peoce Bird otvered to 18 Sqn the same year. The USAF 3A detachment who were stil operating from Riyadh then commenced te task of binging the Saudi crews up to operational stats. ‘At the ‘same time, ‘desveries of the Al Yamahmsh contract began with the Hawks anc PO-8s. all aring in the Kingdom between February 1987 and July 1988. The PO-9s ‘equipped 22 Sqn at Riyadh while 21 Sqn took Golvery of the Hawks and Jetsteams. at Dhahran. Concurrently, production of RAF Tornado GR.1 and Fas was interrupted to censure that delivery rates speciied in the Al Yamahman contract could be met. The frst four {DS aircraft reached 7 Sqn on March 27 1886 ‘whi the fist four ADV Tornados wore delvored 0 29 Sqn.on March 20 1989, both units being based at Dnarvan Meanwhile, the United States Congress has ‘approved tho sale of a further 12 F-18C/0s Together_with a Multi-Stage Improvement Programme (MSIP) for the remaining 87 F-15 In service with the RSAF. The MSIP inclided an Upgrade ofthe on-board IBM computer to alow Ito store four ties more data and process it three times faster, an advanced armament control system and iF radio but it excluded the ‘ew Hughes AN/APG 70 radar which cuerenty Inetated in USAF F-15s. inatoad the. Sauct areraftretan the existing APG-63 X-band pulse Doppler radar In addition, the Camp David Imitation on Saudi heat’ F-15's sti applied and the new acral had to be stored in the United States, at Saudi expense, untl required to make up floot losses. Lalein 1887, in something ofa suprise move, Saudi Arabia acquired a quantty of intermediate Range Balistic Misses (IR&MS). The Chinese Bult CSS-2 missles are armed with conventional warheads and have a range of approximately 3,000km (1,864 miles). tis thought that about ‘twenty C5S'2s have been purchased trom the Republic of Cina and they nave been deployed in silos at As Sulayyl and Al Jotfer Sourcesin the US believe that these missiles wore purchased out of a sense of frustration at ‘Congress’ continual blocking of the sale of F-15E and other weapons to the Kingdom. In ‘any event, the presence of he missles on Saust Sol has evoked considerable concern in israel ‘hich has in turn caused the ASAF to consider Drotective measures against the possibilty of a Preemptive stike in July of the folowing year, the Saud! Government signed 2 memorandum of Understanding with Briish "Aerospace which ‘covered the possible purchase ofa Tornado, 60 laws (incluaing an nepectied number of Mk 200 aircraft), ten BAe 125/146 and 90 Westland WS-80 Black Hawk helicopters. In addition, Ballast Neeaham, BAe’s ‘construction subsidiary was contracted to ‘construct two airfields, one at As Sulayyil ‘and the other at Al Joffe to protect the recently constructed IRBM sits. "And so was when on August 2 1900, Te lragi army invaded Kuwait and threatened the sovereignty of Saud! Arabia, ine Kingdom was defended by nine front line combat squadrons reinforced by five ‘squadrons providing transport, refueling ana reconnaissance suppor. war, while the infrastructure of the Squadron was insufficient. to support i umber of F-15s which were on order Consequenty the planned formation of new squadrons was either postponed or ‘amended. The planned formation of 68 Sqn with Toriado 1DS was postponed and the aircraft were delivered to 7 Sqn, and the frst ‘ADVs due to form 34 Sqn were diverted to 29, ‘Sqn. 42 Sqn which was in the process of forming with PC-Gs suddenly became an F-15 unit equipped with the majority of the USAFE teinfocooment alcra. “The scala and the nature of the coaltion military build-up in the Gulf area during the fast four months of 1990 Is well knows and has been thoroughly documented in previous ‘severe turbulence added to the dificulties encountered by these relatively inexperienced crows. The F-15 force were deployed on CAP. Under the control of both Saudi and USAF ‘AWAC aircraft. The effectiveness of both aircraft and the quality of the crews were amply demonstrated on January 24 when, CCapiain Al Shawaa scored the fist double kil of the war by destroying two Mirage F-1EQ aircraft on their way to launch an Exocet attack against alied shipping. 5 Tiger Il and Hawks provided close air ‘support during the closing stages of the war by mounting concerted ground attack ‘missions against raqi armoured units ‘The Royal Saudi Air Force suffered three 1H Saudi hero ofthe Gulf War, Capt Al Shawae shot down two Iraqi Mirage Fls from hs F-15C Eagle, (cut) Considerably outnumbered by the Iraqi armed forces poised on the borders and Uncertain of practical miltary support from her allies, the Saudi Government rapidly Negotiated a series of arms deals, In an early agreement with the United Staies, twelve Fs16s from the USAF inventory were delivered in late August. In addtion. a turner 24 F-18s wore transferred from USAFE's 32nd TRS/6In TFW and were flown to Saudi ‘Arabia by their American pilots during October 1990. Simultaneously, further hhad secured the purchase of ten G-130Hs, seven KC-130Hs, twelve AH-64 Apaches and eight UH-60 Blackhawks with ‘consideration being given to a Saudi request for an additional four E-3As and seven KE-SAs, The sudden reinforcement of the Air Force caused unexpected administrative and organisational difficulties. Squadrons that Were in the process of forming as a result of the Al Yamahmah Contract, were either under strength or inappropriately equipped to fight Issues of Air Forces Monthly. Suttice to say that it was obvious to all, including the US. Government, that sufciont muscle Rad been gathered in the area to ensure an allied Victory. In the face of further representation from the American-Israel Committee it was decided that further supplies of aircraft to ‘Saudi Arabia under the emergency defence Package would be unnecessary. Con- sequently the plans to provide the additional F-48 and KC-130 aircraft as well as the ‘Apache and Blackhawk helicopters were ‘cancelled. Royal Saudi Air Force's contribution to the air war was significant in relaion to is size ‘The enlarged 7 Sqn, by now equipped with 31 IDS Tornados, operated against Iraqi aiid and latory, mobile Scud missile sites at night. Most sorties required air-to-air Totueling support trom Saudl KC-130H of 4 and 16 Sans, Aicto-alr relueling at nights ‘ot an easy option ang it was made more. difficult by unusually bad weather Conditions. The deep cloud layers and losses during the war, an IDS Tornado and an F-15 were lost during non-operational sorties, while an F-5E Tiger Il was lost on February 13. during an’ attack against retreating Iraqi ground forces, With the end of the hostilities and the ‘departure of the coalition forces a sense of normality returned. Saudl squadrons, evicted from their traditional bases by. the reinforcement alrcrait were able to return home and ‘squadrons that had been ‘amalgamated during the crisis bogan to regain, their original identity. ‘There will, however, be other major ‘changes in the deployment of squadrons with the commissioning of the recently completed airfields at Al Jotier, As Suayyl and Al Khar) is inevitable that the Al Joti and As Sulayyl will accommodate fighter squadrons to defend the IRBM acquired from the Repub of China >in 1987 (US inteligence reported that the sites ‘wore not operational in late 1989 and the fact thal they were not used in retaliation against Iraq's Scud attack might indicate that they hhave sill achieve operational status). Aso, In view of Al Jofter’s proximity to the Iraqi border, i would seem reasonable to suppose that 66 Sqn, the second Tornado IDS unit, might also make its name there. ‘A third major new airfield, Al Khar] is 35 miles (56km) south of Riyadh and boasts six Another executive jet operated by 1 Sqn is this BAe 128-800. 1 One of many diverse VIP types operated by 1 Sqn ot Riyadh, o VC-10H Hercules. 12,000 (3,658m) runways. The airfield will shortly become the home ofthe King Faisal Air ‘Academy, 16 Sqp's C-130Hs, an undisclosed fighter squadron and the E-3A and KE-3As of 18 Sqn. In addition, the base will also house ‘one ot the five Peace Shield Sector Command Contr. However, the ambitious Peace Shield project has fallen seriously behind schedule ‘The contract for the extremely sophisticated software necessary to contol the integrated SS communications system was originally placed with the Boeing Corporation in February 1985 with completion due by April 1991. The Company experienced severe diiculies with the programme and were replaced as the prime contractors by the Hughes Corporation Flughes have considerable experience in the field of computer controlled integrated communication systems in the Command, Control and Communication (C°) environment having been involved with several similar Two Jetstreams ore operated by the RSAF as navigetion trainer ‘maior projects including USAF's North Atlantic. Defence System and the RAF's IUKADGE. CChange of prime contractor wil further delay the project with completion now expected in February 1996, Meanwnile the dacision on the ditional E-3A and support aircraft required 19 {extend the rango ofthe system is stil awaited. Future procurement plans include the replacement of the F-SEIF fleet, and the (ln Bc) Selection of a Maritime Patro! Aircraft. The Need to replace the F-5E was identified. in 1988 and a shor list of four aircraft, F-16, F/R 18, EFA and the Ratale was drawn up. Pressure trom the Jewish lobby made i seem unlikely that an American aircraft would be approved by Congress. The Suds made it Known, albeit privateiy, that it they were thwarted again they’ would consider ‘2 sonoan’, ‘SAUDI ARABIA Khamis (@ Moshoyt sy 1 ‘AFM SEPTEMBER oan Hofor Al Botin® ._| King Khali © As Sulayyil 7 Al Jubay! Dhohron® Fre taer oes nae Sh nen Tnaeeaetoe aes Es eee ©