Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces

Royal Saudi Air Defense

الدِفَّاع الجوّي المَلكِيَّ السُّعُودِيَّ

Emblem of the RSADF

Founded| 1930 (1930)[lower-alpha 1]
Country|  Saudi Arabia
Type| Air defense
Role| Aerial warfare
Size| 16,000[2]
Part of| Royal Armed Forces

* GSP (as of 1981)[3]

Headquarters| Riyadh (central HQ)[3]
Colors|
Engagements| Action of June 5, 1984
Gulf War
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Website| www.rsadf.gov.sa
Commanders
Current
commander| Lt. General Mazyad al-Amro
Insignia
Flag|

The Saudi Arabian Air Defense Forces or officially Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces (RSADF) (Arabic: قُوَّات الدِفَاع الجوّي المَلكِيَّ السُّعُودِي) is the aerial defense service branch of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. It is fourth of the five service branches of the MOD.[1][3] It has its HQ in Riyadh,[lower-alpha 2] where there is also an elaborate underground command facility that co-ordinates the Arabian Kingdom's advanced "Peace Shield" radar and air defense system, with an estimated 40,000 active duty military personnel in 2015.[4][5] Along with the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), it has responsibility for securing the skies of Saudi Arabia.[6]

## Contents

* 1 Overview
* 1.1 Peace Shield
* 2 Past Inventory
* 3 See also
* 4 Notes
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Overview

Towards the end of the 1970s, a paradigm shift occurred with the SAAF with the making of the RSAD Corps as a separate and equivalent service, equal to the Army, Navy, and Royal Saudi Air Force . It is no longer subordinate to the RSLF. The impetus behind this shift is the ever-changing threat. The concern by the Kingdom of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their mechanism of delivery, resulted in the early understanding by the MoD of the requirement to transform, and thus the creation of the RSADF.[7]

Between 2017 and 2020, the RSAF claimed the interception of 311 cruise missiles and 343 suicide drones but failed to stop some of the attacks against the strategic Saudi sites of the Houthi movement and Iran.[8]

### Peace Shield

* Remote-controlled air/ground radio communications sites.
* 17 Lockheed Martin AN/FPS-117 long-range phased array, 3-dimensional air search radar.
* 6 Northrop-Grumman AN/TPS-43 portable 3-dimensional tactical air search radar.
* Raytheon Improved HAWK air defense missile system.
* Raytheon MIM-104 Patriot air defense missile system
* Oerlikon Contraves Skyguard 35mm Twin Cannon Short Range air defense system
* Lockheed Martin THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system.

Source:[9]

## Past Inventory

Weapon  | Origin  | 1990  | 2000  | 2005  | 2006

|
|
|
|
|

RSAD Inventory[10] Anti-Aircraft Artillery
M163 VADS  | United States | 92  | 92  | 92  | 92
AMX-30SA  | France | 50  | 50  | 50  | 50
Oerlikon GDF | Switzerland | 128  | 128  | 128  | 128
Bofors 40mm L/70  | Sweden  | 150  | 150  | 150  | 70
Surface-to-Air Missiles
Shahine  | France  | 141  | 141  | 141  | 141
I-HAWK  | United States  | 128  | 128  | 128  | 128
Crotale  | France  | 0  | 40  | 40  | 40
FIM-92A Stinger/Avenger  | United States  | 0  | 0  | 400  | 400
FIM-43 Redeye  | United States  | 0  | 0  | 500  | 500
Mistral | France  | 0  | 0  | 500  | 500
PAC-2 Patriot  | United States  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 640

## See also

* Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force

## Notes

1. ↑ 1930–1955 (as a part of the Artillery Arm of the Saudi Army)[1] 1956–1963 (as a part of the formation of the Artillery Corps)
1963–1983 (an independent corps of the R.S. Land Forces)  1984– present (fourth armed service branches of the MOD).
2. ↑ Air Defense Ministry Building designed by Arthur Erickson Architects with Bing Thom

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Royal Saudi Land Forces History". GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/rslf-history.htm.
2. ↑ IISS (2021). The Military Balance 2021. Routledge. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-032-01227-8.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Al Saud, K. Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces, al-Moqatel (in Arabic) online.
4. ↑ "Saudi Arabia spends 25% of its budget on its military — here's what it has for the money". http://uk.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-spends-25-of-its-budget-on-its-military-2015-12.
5. ↑ Anthony Cordesman (2009) (in en). Saudi Arabia: National Security in a Troubled Region. pp. 387.
6. ↑ "Royal Saudi Air Defence Force - Responsibilities". https://www.rsadf.gov.sa/Subs.aspx?ID=7.
7. ↑ "Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces". globalsecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/rsadf.htm.
8. ↑ "Attaque suicide en Arabie-Saoudite: Nouvel échec du systéme Patriot". 2021-03-19. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/attaque-suicide-en-arabie-saoudite-nouvel-chec-du-systme-patriot-24435.
9. ↑ Janes-Military-Communications, 5 July 2005, Peace Shield (Saudi Arabia), Systems Retrieved 2012-01-23
10. ↑ Cordesman, A. H., Al-Rodhan, K. R. (2006). Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars. United Kingdom: Praeger Security International. P. 208

## External links

* R.S. Air Defense official website
* Moqatel (Warrior Desert)

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