c
 



•
 
 



•
  
• 

Joshua Teitelbaum

À  
tober 20, 2010, the U.S. State Departme t otified Co ress of its i te tio to
make the biest arms sale i Ameri
a history - a estimated $60.5 billio pur
hase by
the Ki dom of Saudi Arabia. The pa
kae represe ts a
o siderable improveme t i the
offe sive
apability of the Saudi armed for
es.

À Saudi Arabia's armed for
es are
ompartme talized by royal family fa
tio , a d do ot
share
ommu i
atio s. They i
lude the Royal Saudi Air For
e (RSAF), Royal Saudi
La d For
es (RSLF), Saudi Arabia Royal Guard (SARG), a d Saudi Arabia Natio al
Guard (SANG). This system is at o
e a form of
oup-proofi  a d power-bala
i .

À SANG, headed by Ki  Abdullah a d his so s, is slated to be parti
ularly blessed with

156 ew heli
opters, si ifi
a tly i
reasi  its mobility a d atta
k
apabilities.
Abdullah has si ifi
a tly upraded the SANG, whi
h amou ts to the perso al militia of
his family fa
tio .

À The U.S. was kee to poi t out that the arms tra sfer would i
rease "i teroperability"
with U.S. for
es. I the 1990-1991 Gulf War, havi  U.S.-trai ed Saudi for
es, alo 
with military i stallatio s built to U.S. spe
ifi
atio s, allowed the Ameri
a armed for
es
to deploy i a
omfortable a d familiar battle e viro me t. This ew deal would i
rease
these
apabilities, as a adva
ed Ameri
a military i frastru
ture is about to be built.

À Totally offe sive i ature, the pa
kae, with its atta
k pla es, heli
opters, a d "bu ker-
buster" bombs, was
learly desi ed to deter Ira a d to se d a stro  si al, perhaps
previously la
ki  i the bama admi istratio , that the U.S. would sta d stro ly by its
 allies. U.S. offi
ials have also beu to refer to the "Persia Gulf" as the "Arabia Gulf,"
a hot-butto issue for the Ira ia s.

 
tober 20, 2010, the U.S. Departme t of State otified Co ress of its i te tio to make the
biest arms sale i Ameri
a history - a estimated $60.5 billio pur
hase by the Ki dom of
Saudi Arabia. I formatio o the deal had bee leaki  si
e Auust, as the White House tested

o ressio al opi io .

The U.S. has a stro  defe se relatio ship with Saudi Arabia. The Co ressio al Resear
h
Servi
e has des
ribed the history of arms sales to the ki dom:
The U ited States has lo  bee Saudi Arabia's leadi  arms supplier. From 1950 throuh 2006,
Saudi Arabia pur
hased a d re
eived from the U ited States weapo s, military equipme t, a d
related servi
es throuh Forei Military Sales (FMS) worth over $62.7 billio a d Forei
Military Co stru
tio Servi
es (FMCS) worth over $17.1 billio (fiures i histori
al dollars).
These fiures represe t approximately 19 per
e t of all FMS deliveries a d 85 per
e t of all
FMCS deliveries made worldwide duri  this period. The larest si le re
e t U.S. forei
military sale to Saudi Arabia [u til ow - JT] was a $9 billio
o tra
t for 72 F-15S fihter
air
raft. The
o tra
t was si ed i May 1993, a d delivery of the F-15S air
raft was
ompleted
i 1999.1

ë
 

The a ou
eme t of the sale was formalized i four separate otifi
atio s to Co ress,
represe ti  various arms of the Saudi armed for
es, a d refle
ti  the divided
o trol of the
Saudi military betwee two mai royal family fa
tio s:

1. The Royal Saudi Air For
e (RSAF)2 was prepared to pur
hase 84 F-15SA air
raft, 1,100
GBU-24 PAVEWAY III Laser Guided Bombs (2,000-lb.), a d 1,000 GBU-31B V3 Joi t Dire
t
Atta
k Mu itio s (JDAM) 2,000-lb. bombs, alo  with 193 LANTIRN aviatio pods (3rd
Ge eratio -Tier Eye), 170 APG-63 (v)3 A
tive Ele
tro i
ally S
a ed Array Radar (AESA)
sets, Harpoo , HARM (a ti-radar), a d Sidewi der missiles. Also i
luded are the uprade of
the existi  RSAF fleet of 70 F-15S multi-role fihters to the F-15SA
o fiuratio ,

ommu i
atio se
urity, site surveys, trai ers, simulators, publi
atio s a d te
h i
al
do
ume tatio , perso el trai i  a d trai i  equipme t, U.S. over me t a d
o tra
tor
e i eeri , te
h i
al, a d loisti
al support servi
es, a d other related eleme ts of loisti
al
a d proram support. The estimated
ost is $29.432 billio .3

2. The Royal Saudi La d For
es (RSLF)4 were to re
eive 24 AH-64D Blo
k III Apa
he
Lo bow heli
opters a d asso
iated missiles a d ele
tro i
s. Also i
luded are trai ers,
simulators, e erators, trai i  mu itio s, desi a d
o stru
tio , tra sportatio , perso el
trai i  a d trai i  equipme t, publi
atio s a d te
h i
al do
ume tatio , U.S. over me t a d

o tra
tor e i eeri , te
h i
al, a d loisti
s support servi
es, a d other related eleme ts of
proram support. The estimated
ost is $3.3 billio .
3. The Saudi Arabia Royal Guard (SARG)5 si ed up for 10 AH-64D Blo
k III Apa
he
Lo bow heli
opters with the requisite missiles a d ele
tro i
s. Also i
luded are trai ers,
simulators, e erators, trai i  mu itio s, desi a d
o stru
tio , tra sportatio , tools a d test
equipme t, rou d- a d air-based SATCM a d li e-of-siht
ommu i
atio equipme t,
perso el trai i  a d trai i  equipme t, publi
atio s a d te
h i
al do
ume tatio , U.S.
over me t a d
o tra
tor e i eeri , te
h i
al, a d loisti
s support servi
es, a d other
related eleme ts of proram support. The estimated
ost is $2.223 billio .

4. The Saudi Arabia Natio al Guard (SANG)6
ompo e t was 36 AH-64D Blo
k III Apa
he
heli
opters, 72 UH-60M Bla
khawk heli
opters, 12 MD-530F liht turbi e re
o aissa
e
heli
opters, a d 36 AH-6i liht atta
k heli
opters, alo  with missiles a d ele
tro i
s. Also
i
luded are trai ers, simulators, e erators, mu itio s, desi a d
o stru
tio , tra sportatio ,
wheeled vehi
les a d ora izatio equipme t, tools a d test equipme t,
ommu i
atio
equipme t, spare a d repair parts, support equipme t, perso el trai i  a d trai i  equipme t,
publi
atio s a d te
h i
al do
ume tatio , U.S. over me t a d
o tra
tor e i eeri ,
te
h i
al, a d loisti
s support servi
es, a d other related eleme ts of proram support. The
estimated
ost is $25.6 billio .




   

There is o doubt that the pa
kae represe ts a
o siderable improveme t i the offe sive

apability of the Saudi armed for
es. The RSAF is promised 84 ew F-15SAs, a d a uprade of
its
urre t 70 F-15Ss to F-15SA sta dard, ivi  it a total of 154 adva
ed air
raft. This
omes
o top of its already formidable squadro s of 80 Ameri
a F-15C/Ds, a d British-made
Typhoo s (72) a d Tor ados (about 100).

 e of the most i teresti  developme ts
o
er s the heli
opters.7 Saudi Arabia's armed for
es
are
ompartme talized by royal family fa
tio , a d do ot share
ommu i
atio s.8 This system,
put i pla
e by Ki  Faysal (d. 1975), is at o
e a form of
oup-proofi  a d power-bala
i .
SANG, headed by Ki  Abdullah a d his so s (parti
ularly the
omma der of SANG, Mut'ib), is
slated to be parti
ularly blessed with 156 ew heli
opters, si ifi
a tly i
reasi  its mobility
a d atta
k
apabilities far beyo d its traditio al role of defe di  the royal family,
o trolli 
Shiites, a d prote
ti  stratei
lo
atio s, su
h as oil i stallatio s. SANG was ot k ow to have
a y air power at all. f
ourse, Crow Pri
e Sulta bi Abd al-Aziz a d his so Khalid, who

o trol the RSLF, RSAF a d SARG u der the Mi istry of Defe se a d Aviatio , are etti 
some pretty hefty hardware as well. Parti
ular atte tio should be draw to the SARG Apa
he
Lo bows, si
e the SARG was ot k ow previously to have had heli
opters, althouh it miht
have draw them from the RSLF (of whi
h it is offi
ially a part) whe eeded. The re
e t deal
seems to e erally be keepi  the bala
e of power, althouh Abdullah has si ifi
a tly
upraded the SANG, whi
h amou ts to the perso al militia of his family fa
tio .

I both the State Departme t a ou
eme t of the deal by A drew Shapiro, Assista t Se
retary
of State for Politi
al Affairs, a d the Departme t of Defe se otifi
atio s to Co ress, the U.S.
was kee to poi t out that the arms tra sfer would i
rease "i teroperability" with U.S. for
es.
This is a key poi t. It was prove i the 1990-1991 Gulf War that havi  U.S.-trai ed Saudi
for
es, alo  with military i stallatio s built to U.S. spe
ifi
atio s, allowed the Ameri
a armed
for
es to deploy a d operate i the theater i a
omfortable a d familiar battle e viro me t. This
ew deal would i
rease these
apabilities throuh the pur
hase of Ameri
a arms a d trai i 
by Ameri
a perso el.

I esse
e, as i 1990-1991, a adva
ed Ameri
a military i frastru
ture is about to be built.
The U.S. is ot relyi  o joi t Gulf Cooperatio Cou
il (GCC) for
es, whi
h do ot approa
h
the level of i teroperability with ea
h other that the U.S. possesses a d aspires to expa d eve
further with the Saudis.9 As the U.S. withdraws from Iraq, Persia Gulf deployme t be
omes
eve more
riti
al. I a ma er of speaki , the deal amou ts to a ki d of pre-positio i  of
U.S.-ma ufa
tured war materiel a d U.S.-trai ed perso el i a very stratei
theater. At the
very least, it would free up U.S. for
es to be deployed elsewhere.

The pa
kae otably does ot i
lude a y defe sive
apabilities, parti
ularly ballisti
missile
defe se (BMD). The Saudis are parti
ularly se sitive to the prese
e of U.S. troops i the
ki dom - i deed, that prese
e duri  the Gulf War was o e of the reaso s
ited by Usama bi
Ladi for the formatio of al-Qaeda - a d have dialed dow the U.S. footpri t si ifi
a tly as a
result. BMD would require a si ifi
a t prese
e. But Saudi Arabia has most probably ot bee
aba do ed to ballisti
missiles. Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrai , a d the UAE all have U.S.-ma ed
Patriot missile batteries, a d U.S. Aeis Combat System-equipped
ruisers freque t the Persia
Gulf.10 Additio al Aeis ships
a provide
overae from the Red Sea. It is likely that there are
Patriots i Iraq as well. It seems, therefore, that mu
h, if ot all, of Saudi Arabia is already

overed for BMD from eihbori 
ou tries a d seas.

D  


I fa
t, totally offe sive i ature, the pa
kae, with its atta
k pla es, heli
opters, a d "bu ker-
buster" bombs, was
learly desi ed to deter Ira a d to se d a stro  si al, perhaps previously
la
ki  i the bama admi istratio , that the U.S. would sta d stro ly by its allies. The deal
falls withi the e eral poli
y a ou
ed by Preside t Geore W. Bush i July 2007 to arm the
Gulf states aai st Ira . At the time, a se ior admi istratio offi
ial stressed: "This is a bi
developme t, be
ause it's part of a larer reio al stratey a d the mai te a
e of a stro  U.S.
prese
e i the reio . We're payi  atte tio to the eeds of our allies a d what everyo e i the
reio believes is a flexi  of mus
les by a more aressive Ira .  e way to deal with that is to
make our allies a d frie ds stro ."11 A d this time arou d, U.S. offi
ials were eve bolder. "We
wa t Ira to u dersta d that its u
lear proram is ot etti  them leverae over their
eihbors, that they are ot etti  a adva tae," a se ior admi istratio offi
ial said as ews of
the pla ed sale bea to tri
kle out. He emphasized: "We wa t the Ira ia s to k ow that every
time they thi k they will ai , they will a
tually lose."12

That the deal was aimed at Ira was parti
ularly oti
eable i Shapiro's press
o fere
e. I
parti
ular, Shapiro used the loaded term "Arabia Gulf" i o e out of three refere
es for the
body of water that has traditio ally a d offi
ially bee termed by the U.S. the "Persia Gulf."
This is a hot-butto issue for the Ira ia s, a d was a stro  si al both to Tehra a d the GCC

ou tries, whi
h
all it the Arabia Gulf (d
d
d
d d). It is hard to believe this phrase was
u i te tio al. The use of the same phrase by Kurt Campbell, Assista t Se
retary, Bureau of East
Asia a d Pa
ifi
Affairs, less tha a week later suested a more aressive U.S. sta
e.13 (A
website
alled www.persia orarabia ulf.
om i vites readers to vote o whi
h term they prefer.
As of this writi , Persia Gulf leads 71 to 29 per
e t, with over 100,000 respo ses. Ira ia s are
very patrioti
.)

Israel did ot raise obje
tio s to the sale, ex
ept to say that it was " ot thrilled about it,"14 but
U.S. offi
ials were at pai s to stress that there had bee previous hih-level
o sultatio s with
Israel, a d that the Jewish state's qualitative military ede was bei  mai tai ed. Israel was also
s
heduled to re
eive the latest i aviatio warfare, the F-35, i 2015, the same year the F-15SAs
were s
heduled to be se t to Saudi Arabia. The Israelis have appare tly ive the od.

 e promi e t member of the royal family, former head of i tellie
e a d former ambassador
to Washi to Turki Al Faysal, did ot seem parti
ularly rateful for the se
urity
ooperatio .
He used a spee
h to the Natio al Cou
il o U.S.-Arab Relatio s to upbraid the admi istratio
for its support of Israel i less tha ra
eful terms. Israel was a "drai o the U ited States, ot
as asset," he averred. "Withi the makeup of this admi istratio ," Turki
o fided, "there are
offi
ials who ratio alize, ex
use, a d
o do e Israeli i tra sie
e." He railed aai st the idea
of i depe de
e from forei oil,
alli  it a "
a ard," a d referred to supporters of Israel as
"live huma muppets...who are ru by AIPAC."15

While there was o ly very muted
o ressio al oppositio to the sale, Preside t bama's publi

tha ki  of Saudi Arabia for help i the i terdi
tio of two Yeme -orii ati  bombs headed for
Chi
ao sy aoues o 
tober 29 was set to assure smooth saili  for the deal o Capitol
Hill.16 The war i  had
ome perso ally from the Saudi Mi ister of I terior, Nayif bi Abd al-
Aziz.17 Nayif
o trols the Mi istry of I terior a d its spe
ial se
urity for
es, a d represe ts
a other royal family fa
tio .

Fi ally, the boost to the aili  U.S. e
o omy should ot be i ored as a motivati  fa
tor.18 The
stakes were parti
ularly hih for Missouri, whi
h had Boei 's F-15 produ
tio li e with 14,000
jobs, as well as Arizo a, Florida, hio, a d New York.

The sale is sure to be approved by Co ress, a d with the approval, the U.S.-Saudi se
urity
relatio ship is ba
k o a eve keel. Althouh the two
ou tries do ot share ma y values, they
do share se
urity i terests. Israel shares ma y of these i terests as well.

* * *

?
1. Christopher Bla
hard, "Saudi Arabia: Ba
krou d a d U.S. Relatio s," Co ressio al
Resear
h Servi
e, Ju e 14, 2010.

2. http://www.ds
a.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2010/Saudi_Arabia_10-43.pdf

3.  ly the most importa t aspe
ts i the otifi
atio are i
luded i these lists.

4. http://www.ds
a.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2010/Saudi_Arabia_10-45.pdf

5. http://www.ds
a.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2010/Saudi_Arabia_10-46.pdf

6. http://www.ds
a.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2010/Saudi_Arabia_10-44.pdf

7. See Yiftah Shafir, "The White Army Aai st Ira : The Saudi Arms Deal - Part Two," ·dd 

, 
tober 28, 2010, www.i ss.or.il (Hebrew).

8. See Joshua Teitelbaum, "A Family Affair: Civil-Military Relatio s i Saudi Arabia," Draft
Paper Prese ted to the Fourth Mediterra ea So
ial a d Politi
al Resear
h Meeti , Robert
S
huma Ce tre for Adva
ed Studies, Flore
e, Mar
h 2003.

9. http://www.susris.
om/2010/09/17/us-saudi-se
urity-
ooperatio -impa
t-of-arms-sales/

10. http://www. ytimes.
om/2010/01/31/world/middleeast/31missile.html?_r=1

11. http://www.washi to post.
om/wp-dy /
o te t/arti
le/2007/07/27/AR2007072702454.html

12. http://www. ytimes.
om/2010/09/18/world/18arms.html

13. http://www.state.ov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/10/150035.htm

14. http://www.forward.
om/arti
les/132611/

15. http://www.washi to times.
om/ ews/2010/o
t/23/promi e t-saudi-royal-blasts-obama-

israel/

16. http://www.reuters.
om/arti
le/idUSN3026296820101030

17. http://www. ytimes.
om/2010/11/01/world/01terror.html

18. http://thehill.
om/busi ess-a-lobbyi /125595-60b-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia-a- eeded-

boost-for-defe se-
ompa ies