Security
US provides cutting-edge training, technology to Saudi Arabia
Riyadh's long-time reliance on the exchange of technology and knowledge with the United States has enhanced its defenses and enabled it to preserve the security of the Gulf region.
![Royal Saudi officers learn about circuit board technology during Electronic Warfare Officer training in 2023 at a US military base in Texas. [US Air Force]](/gc1/images/2024/06/17/46704-saudi-us-training-600_384.webp)
By Al-Fassel |
For decades, the United States has provided Saudi Arabia with cutting-edge military training and technologies, enabling it to defend itself from regional threats and maintain national and Gulf security.
Saudi Arabia, a force for political stability and economic progress in the region, has signed several military deals with the United States over the years that have strengthened its defense infrastructure.
In April, the United States approved a sale of multifunctional information distribution systems to Saudi Arabia.
The sale will improve Riyadh's surveillance capability, enabling it to counter existing and emerging threats in the Gulf, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
On March 5, 13 Royal Saudi Air Force officers graduated from the US Air Force intensive Electronic Warfare Officer training course in a milestone for the Saudi-US military partnership.
The program spanned over three and a half years and consisted of 4,400 hours of instruction. It included four phases and 34 courses, as well as various exercises and simulations.
The graduation itself followed a US decision last December to renew a training program for Saudi Arabia.
Inferior Chinese arms
The United States supplied 79% of Saudi Arabia's weapons between 2016 and 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The United States is thus the largest exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia.
Those figures indicate the Kingdom's reliance on the cutting-edge technology of the United States over other countries, including China, whose arms sales in 2020 dropped to their lowest level since 2008.
China's arms exports in 2020 fell to 759 million TIV (trend-indicator values) -- a unique measurement developed by SIPRI based on estimations of production cost for various weapons.
And its arms shipments fell 7.8% between 2016 and 2020, compared to the preceding five-year period.
In contrast, the United States exported 105 billion TIV from 2010 to 2020 -- more than six times the Chinese total, SIPRI said.
"China lags more established arms suppliers largely due to quality issues," it said.