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Saudi Arabia Defence and Security Report Q2 2010
Market |
Defence |
Report Type |
Market Research |
Country |
Saudi Arabia |
Published |
5 March 2010 |
Number of Pages |
68 |
Download |
|
Immediate |
|
Publisher |
Business Monitor International |
By far the most important security and defence issue to emerge in recent months in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the conflict that has escalated in Yemen with the Shi’a (Houthi) uprising. Not only does it threaten the kingdom itself but threatens repercussions around the Gulf region, particularly in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia with its large Shi’a population and in Kuwait.
The fighting in Yemen’s Saada region has barely made it onto the radar of international news but is serious for three reasons. Yemen is an important player in the international fight against Somalian piracy in that area. Second, its own lawless regions are starting to look a lot like a haven for al-Qaeda. Third, Shi’a-Sunni tensions in Saada are emblematic of the sectarian tensions in the region. More concerningly perhaps, the counter insurgency appears to have been a difficult operation for Saudi forces where the terrain is unsuited to fighting with air power alone. While by late January the rebels had been forced from Saudi soil, 109 Saudi troops were killed in the three-month operation to recapture the area.
Even without the Houthis, both Iran and Yemen would still pose security threats. Surrounded by desert on the north and eastern borders, and sea on the other Yemen looks a likely base for lawlessness on the scale of Afghanistan and, formerly, Iraq. There has already been evidence of foreign militants operating in Yemen.
The prospect of homegrown terror operations have not been eradicated either as the 2009 attack on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Nayef by a suicide bomber showed. In November, a Saudi-born member of al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula publicly accused King Abdullah of violating Islam by launching the kingdom’s first public university where men and women can mix.
Saudi Arabia’s economic growth should be fairly subdued in 2009 and 2010, but we are looking for a significant acceleration from 2011. This augurs well for defence procurements, notwithstanding that the domestic industry is underdeveloped. However, transactions such as Project Salam – the import and assembly within Saudi Arabia of 72 new Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, should help the development of an indigenous high-technology industrial base. An interesting recent development has been the reported acquisition of around US$2bn in equipment from Russia: traditionally, Saudi Arabia has sourced military hardware from the USA and its allies.
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