Discussions had been held with France and other countries for the supply of up to eight submarines. Saudi Arabia only operates miniature submarines and swimmer delivery vehicles for their commando special operations. The badge was struck to symbolize the military specialty. The Ministry of Defense in Saudi Arabia is trying to place an order with Germany for coastal submarines. Submarine training is completed outside of the country.

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The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War. It took place in and around the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from 29 January to 1 February 1991 and marked the culmination of the Coalition's air campaign over Kuwait and Iraq, which had begun on 17 January 1991.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who had already tried and failed to draw Coalition troops into costly ground engagements by shelling Saudi positions and oil storage tanks and firing Scud surface-to-surface missiles at Israel, ordered the invasion of Saudi Arabia from southern Kuwait. He ordered the 1st and 5th Mechanized Divisions and 3rd Armored Division to conduct a multi-pronged invasion toward Khafji, engaging American, Saudi and Qatari forces along the coastline.

These three divisions, which had been heavily damaged by Coalition aircraft in the preceding days, attacked on 29 January. Most of their attacks were fought off by U.S. Marines and Coalition aircraft, but one of the Iraqi columns occupied Khafji on the night of 29–30 January. Between 30 January and 1 February, two Saudi Arabian National Guard battalions and two Qatari tank companies attempted to retake control of the city, aided by Coalition aircraft and American artillery. By 1 February, the city had been recaptured at the cost of 43 Coalition soldiers dead and 52 wounded. The Iraqi Army lost between 60 and 300 dead, while an estimated 400 were captured as prisoners of war.

The battle serves as a modern demonstration that air power can halt and defeat a major ground operation. It was also a major test of the Saudi and Qatari armies. Although the capture of Khafji was a propaganda victory for Saddam Hussein's regime, its subsequent recapture by Saudi and Qatari ground forces provided a major morale boost for the Coalition.

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Al-Yamamah is Britain's biggest ever arms deal. The agreement - its name means "the dove" in Arabic - has kept BAE afloat for the last 20 years, bringing around £40bn of revenue.

The first stage of the deal was agreed in 1985 and signed in 1988. Britain agreed to sell 72 Tornado planes, 30 Hawk trainer jets and 30 other trainer planes to Saudi Arabia.

In 1993 the deal was renewed when the Saudis agreed to buy a further batch of 48 Tornadoes. In the third stage of the deal the Saudis are understood to be buying a new fleet of 72 Eurofighter Typhoons for up to £10bn. In July 2005 Tony Blair flew to Riyadh to promote the deal.

Talks were stalling at the time because the Saudis were demanding three favours - one of which was the ending of the Serious Fraud Office investigation. The Ministry of Defence says an initial agreement has already been reached. However there will be months of more negotiations before a final contract is signed.

Over the last two decades BAE [BAE's position] has provided the Saudis with associated hardware, infrastructure and training under the terms of al-Yamamah. It has 4,600 employees in Saudi Arabia who service the planes and provide technical assistance and training.

Al-Yamamah has been controversial for many reasons. Within weeks of the deal being signed in 1985, allegations of corruption surfaced. Those allegations have never gone away; in December 2006 the government terminated the Serious Fraud Office investigation into claims that BAE had paid massive bribes to Saudi royals.

Critics say Britain should not be selling warplanes and military equipment to a regime that is barbaric and undemocratic. They say the British government refrains from criticising the Saudis' appalling human rights abuses in order not to disrupt the arms sales. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade calls it an "endorsement of a country with a history of brutal repression".

Al-Yamamah is technically an agreement between the British and Saudi governments, with BAE as the prime contractor supplying the planes and military equipment. Work is in turn subcontracted to many other firms.

The British government secretly insures BAE's deals with Saudi Arabia. This means that the government will pay BAE £1bn if the Saudi regime collapses and the country cannot pay its debts to the company.

Saudi Arabia’s air force has signed a deal to upgrade its fleet of 150 strike aircraft and procure advanced weaponry.

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) upgrades include components to extend the life of the fighter bombers and highly-accurate target acquisition pods.

The Goodrich Corporation announced it had been selected to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s fleet of 150 F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft with Grid-Lock flight controls. The retrofit of the aircraft ailerons, flaps, rudders and wing tips will bring them up to par with US Air Force F-15s, the company said.

“The RSAF recognized the improved lifecycle costs that the USAF is realizing on its flight control surfaces as a result of this innovative technology,” Marc Duvall, president of Goodrich Aerostructures, said in a statement.

Lockheed Martin has signed a $40 million foreign military sales contract to deliver Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATPs) to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

This is the second Sniper ATP purchase in a multi-year precision sensor modernisation program to improve precision targeting, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability of Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S aircraft, a statement said.

The Royal Saudi Air Force first purchased Sniper pods in March 2009. Operational evaluation of the pod on the F-15S concluded in January of this year, with the Royal Saudi Air Force declaring the pod mission ready.

"Deliveries on the initial F-15S Sniper ATP contract were completed ahead of schedule," said John Rogers, Saudi Sniper ATP program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We've received very positive feedback from Saudi aircrews flying the Sniper pod, and we look forward to delivering additional pods to support their urgent operational requirement for Sniper ATP capability."

Featuring exceptional image quality and stability due to its next-generation design, the Sniper ATP delivers extremely precise weapon targeting for multiple fixed and moving targets, a high performance datalink for real-time coordination between aircrews and ground troops, and real-time weapon damage estimation radius displays to reduce the potential for collateral damage, the statement said.

the Sniper pod is heavily used as a non-traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance asset for convoy route reconnaissance and battlefield situational awareness.

Deployed in theater on US Air Force and coalition partner F-15, F-16, A-10 and B-1 aircraft, the Sniper ATP is also operational on the CF-18 and Harrier GR7 and GR9 aircraft. Platform expansion continues with the B-52, Tornado, Typhoon, unmanned aerial vehicles and additional aircraft.

Development The Saudi Arabian company of Abdallah Al-Faris & Company for Heavy Industries (one of the Military Industries Corporation companies), has been developing a 6 × 6 armoured fighting vehicle, suitable for a wide range of operational roles on the battlefield, since 1977.

The first vehicle, an armoured personnel carrier, was completed in 1981, while the second, which incorporated many improvements as a result of trials with the prototype, was completed in 1988 (Jane's Armour and Artillery 1989-90, page 776). This was fitted with a Cockerill LCTS two-man turret armed with a Cockerill 90 mm Mk 7 gun and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun. Early in 1990 the manufacturer stated that development and trials were complete prior to the preseries production of the 6 × 6 armoured vehicle under the `Dera Al Jazirah' (Peninsular Shield) Program of the Military Industries Corporation.

The second and last prototype was subsequently named `El Labwa' after the lioness which is known for protecting its cubs and hunting for them. By early 1990 20 preseries units of different specifications and capabilities were said to be in production in Saudi Arabia. There has been no recent information concerning this vehicle and no known sales.

Description The hull of the vehicle is of all-welded steel armour construction that provides protection from small arms fire and shell splinters. The driver is seated at the front left with the vehicle commander to his right and to their front is a large one-piece bulletproof windscreen. Both have a bulletproof side window. In a combat area these are covered by hydraulically operated window flaps hinged at the top. When the window flaps are lowered forward observation for the commander and driver is via roof-mounted periscopes.

The driver is also provided with a circular roof hatch above his position. In each side of the vehicle is an entry door that opens to the front and this is fitted with a firing port with an observation device above. The troop compartment is located in the centre of the vehicle with the engine compartment located at the rear on the right side with access grilles in the roof.

The troops can also leave the vehicle via a passage to the rear on the left side. An entry door is provided at the left rear and this is hinged at the bottom and folds down like a ramp. The engine, transmission, cooling system and driveshafts are made in one unit to permit field stripping with the least effort in an emergency such as a power pack exchange. The independent wheel suspension with hydropneumatic spring system provides a total wheel travel of 550 mm.

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Al Shibl: a lion cub with a great attitude

Being shown for the first time at IDEX is a complete range of vehicles designed, developed and manufactured by the Armoured Vehicles & Heavy Equipment Factory, which is part of the Military Industries Corporation of Saudi Arabia (Hall 12, Stand B25).

The latest two armoured vehicles at IDEX are the Al Shibl 1 and Al Shibl 2, both of which are in quantity production and in service with the Saudi Ministry of Defence and Aviation.

They are based on a proven Toyota Land Cruiser (4x4) cross-country chassis and are powered by a 221hp petrol engine coupled to a manual transmission, which gives a maximum speed of up to 120km/h on roads. The allwelded steel hull provides the occupants with protection from 7.62mm small arms fire, although higher levels of protection are available.

The three-crew Al Shibl 1 is typically used for the reconnaissance role, for which it is fitted with a roof-mounted protected weapon station armed with a 7.62mm or .50 machine gun (MG), or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher and has a gross vehicle weight of about 3.6 tonnes.



Al Shibl 2 has a longer wheelbase and a GVW of 4.6 tonnes, and typically has a crew of two plus seven troops. The example shown at IDEX is fitted with a remote overhead weapon station armed with a .50 (12.7mm) MG. Standard equipment includes run-flat tyres and armoured glass, which provides the same level of protection as the hull.

The company has also undertaken a number of upgrade programmes for the home and export markets, which include repowering the French Panhard General Defense AML-60 and AML-90 armoured cars and the M3 APC. In addition, the company has produced a range of special vehicles based on a Toyota chassis, for multi-role missions and special tasks.