Saudi Arabia To Buy German Patrol Boats

The Kingdom is expected to spend $2 billion on ships from a Bremen-based dockyard.

Saudi Arabia is looking into buying patrol boats worth 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) from a German firm, and appears to have won the Berlin government’s approval despite widespread public criticism of arms deals, a newspaper reported on Sunday.
The Arab kingdom was exploring a deal to buy the ships, each costing between 10 and 25 million euros, from Bremen-based dockyard Luerssen, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said.
Arms exports are a sensitive issue in Germany given the country’s Nazi past and the role arms makers like Krupp played in fuelling numerous 19th and 20th century wars.
Germany’s national security council, which includes Chancellor Angela Merkel and the ministers of defence, development, economy and foreign affairs, had already given the deal a preliminary nod, according to the newspaper.
The council has to approve such deals in Germany but its decisions are not made public. A spokeswoman for the economy ministry, which oversees such deals, declined to comment.
No one at Luerssen was immediately available for comment.
The newspaper did not say why Saudi Arabia might be seeking the vessels.
But Saudi Arabia’s foe Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a route for oil exports from the Gulf, if Iranian nuclear sites are attacked by Israel, which believes Tehran is trying to develop an atomic bomb – a charge Tehran denies.
While Iran’s navy lacks a modern combat capability, its Revolutionary Guards have a wide range of more modern missile patrol boats armed with Chinese and Iranian-made anti-ship missiles, Western defence analysts say.

Implement Saudi land forces (Jebel 13) with attached drill Oman strengths

The Royal Saudi Land Forces are ready to Implement the (Jebel13) Joint Drill Combining special task forces, parachutists, commando forces, air, land and special operations units from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with participation of special operation forces, from the Sultanate of Oman and aircraft from the Royal Saudi Air Force early next week in the northwestern Areas of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The official spokesman of the On behalf Saudi Defense Ministry, Major General Dr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Malik, Told the Saudi state press agency (SPA) That this exercise comes as part of a series of joint military exercises - aka Jebel - and combined special operation units with Omani Saudi Counterparts.He Explained aussi que la drills will include various practical steps to boost Aimed battle readiness in Both Sides. The drills will continue over a period of more than two weeks.

Germany Might Scuttle French Vehicle Deal

Ties between France and Germany have become tense over doubts that Berlin will allow French industry to deliver on two vehicle deals to Saudi Arabia, raising questions over the viability of European defense cooperation, political sources said.
The problem: French industry needs Germany to authorize its Mercedes Unimog chassis for use with Nexter’s Aravis armored vehicle and the Multi Purpose Combat Vehicle (MPCV) from MBDA and the Lohr group, both under export contracts to Saudi Arabia, political sources said.
As problems emerged, and on advice from a German defense official, the heads of the French Senate and National Assembly defense committees, Jean-Louis Carrère and Patricia Adam, sent a letter to the head of the Bundestag defense committee, Susanne Kastner, asking for help on delivering on the Saudi deals Dec. 19.
But the high level parliamentary letter seems to have failed.
Kastner’s reply landed here Jan. 8, saying the Bundestag committee has no oversight of arms exports, which are the federal government’s responsibility, a French parliamentary official said. In addition, German deputies have tabled motions calling for timely, detailed information on arms exports, the source said.
“Relations are under strain,” a second French parliamentary official said.
Arms sales to Saudi Arabia generate political controversy in Germany because of human rights concerns. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, however, is reportedly in talks to sell 30 Dingo armored vehicles and the Leopard 2 heavy tank to Riyadh.
The French Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, on Dec. 8 condemned the decapitation in Saudi Arabia of Mohamed Kheir Hussain Darwish, as part of Paris’ universal campaign against capital punishment. The Foreign Ministry noted on its website that Saudi Arabia executed 76 people in 2012.
For French industry, at stake are Saudi orders for 347 vehicles, with 279 Aravis units, including 15 in an ambulance version, and 68 MPCV air defense systems, armed with Mistral 2 missiles, business daily Les Echos reported.

Joint exercise to strengthen ties between Pak, Saudi navies

Maritime security operations against asymmetric threats as well as contemporary challenges like piracy, terrorism, narcotics, arms and human smuggling have a great impact on the maritime environment, Rear Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah said at a press briefing on Saturday.

“It needs no emphasis that present day navies are increasingly focused on policing roles and sharing of resources for countering these multifarious maritime security challenges requires collaborative approach at regional as well as international level,” he observed.

“To this end, the Pakistan Navy as a responsible maritime power is contributing relentlessly in maintaining legitimate maritime order at sea through the conduct of maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea and beyond.”

He said the Pakistan Navy regularly conducted bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional and extra-regional navies to improve its interoperability with international navies.

“These exercises are a clear manifestation of Pakistan’s commitment towards maintaining peace and stability in the region.”

Naseem Al Bahr is one such bilateral maritime exercise conducted with a brotherly navy, the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia not only enjoy deep-rooted fraternal ties, but also share historic maritime traditions.

Naseem Al Bahar is a biennial exercise evolved as a manifestation of the unique Pak-Saudi interpersonal relationship and mutual resolve to enhance bilateral cooperation in facing the common challenges.

“The participation of RSNF ships in the exercise will further strengthen the existing bilateral relations between the two brotherly navies. At this juncture, we thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and particularly, the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, for their participation in the exercise, Naseem Al Bahr-X, which is scheduled from 12 to 22 Jan 13 off the coast of Makran,” Zakaullah said.

“It is also a milestone in history of the Pakistan Navy in which the complete exercise will be conducted from Jinnah Naval Base, Ormara. Naseem Al Bahr series of exercises is indeed a concerted effort from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to promote maritime security awareness for collaborative maritime security in the region.”

The rear admiral said first Naseem Al Bahr exercise was conducted in January 1993 and the present exercise also marks the twentieth year of this interaction with the RSNF.

Zakaullah said the aim of the exercise was to foster friendship, develop common understanding and increase interoperability with the RSNF in the domains of traditional as well as non-traditional warfare in order to maintain peace and stability for the larger good of the region.

He said in the traditional warfare domain, the objective was to share and refine tactics, techniques and doctrines through jointly undertaking anti-surface, anti-submarine and anti-air operations with RSNF units.

In the non traditional domain, he added, the exercise would mainly focus to improve interoperability and tactical proficiency in the execution of combined maritime security operations against asymmetric threats like piracy, counter terrorism and defence of port infrastructure to mention a few.

Pak-Saudi joint naval exercises from today

Navies of the present day world are increasingly focused on policing roles and sharing of resources for maritime security operations against asymmetric threats viz contemporary challenges like terrorism, piracy, narcotics, arms and human smuggling which have greatly impacted the maritime environment.

Pakistan Navy is engaged in Maritime Security Operations in the vital region of North Arabian Sea which enhances national and global economy through maintenance of legitimate maritime order at sea. Pakistan Navy’s outreach to regional and global navies in respect of defence collaboration is a potent mean to advance nation’s foreign office policy objectives.

Aiming to provide formal opportunity for both Pakistan Navy and Royal

Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) to enhance interoperability & tactical proficiency, practice and improve tactics related to Anti Submarine warfare, Anti Surface Warfare, Anti Air Warfare and Air operations, develop common tactics against asymmetric, air, surface, sub-surface and mine threats including defense of port infrastructure, demonstrate MCM capabilities, share and refine the tactical doctrines and to conduct Live Weapon Firing, the biennial conduct of Joint PN – RSNF Naval Exercise Naseem AL BAHR series was evolved.

Since its institution in 1993, the Exercise has matured into an advanced level maritime exercise. The 10th exercise of this series; to be held from 12 – 22 Jan 13 in Pakistani waters, will involve participation of State Of The Art Sea and Air platforms besides Special Forces.

GD Wins $133M for Saudi Abrams Tanks

General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded $132.7 million for the procurement and production of 69 Saudi M1A2 (M1A2S) Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This work is part of a plan by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to upgrade its fleet of tanks.

The Foreign Military Sales contract was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

This contract extends work started in 2008 to update M1A1 and M1A2 tanks to the M1A2S configuration for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The M1A2S conversion increases the efficiency and capability of the tank.

The work will be performed by current employees at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2014.

Saudi Arabia orders General Dynamics tanks

General Dynamics Land Systems, a subsidiary of Falls Church-based General Dynamics Corp., has won a $132.7 million contract for 69 M1A2 Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Foreign Military Sales contract was awarded by the U.S. Army’s TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

It extends work General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) started in 2008 to update existing Saudi tanks.

Report: Saudi Arabia Mulls German Tank Deal

Saudi Arabia is planning to buy 30 German Dingo 2 armoured vehicles worth about 100 million euros, Bild am Sonntag reported in its Sunday edition.

Quoting sources close to the talks on a deal, the paper said Riyadh could eventually purchase up to 100 of the mine resistant, ambush protected Dingos.

The Dingo 2 is advertised by its maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann as “the safest and best-protected wheeled vehicle in its class” with an “outstanding performance on extremely difficult terrains and under extreme climatic conditions”.

The vehicle is also fitted with a nuclear biological and chemical protection system.

Germany’s national security council of which Chancellor Angela Merkel is a member is still to make a final decision on the deal but has already given the green light in principle, said the weekly.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly shown an interest in German tanks.

Earlier this year Bild am Sonntag reported, quoting government sources, that Riyadh wanted to buy 600-800 Leopard battle tanks, more than twice as many as originally envisaged.

Saudi Arabia Warns Iraq That Failure To Accomodate Sunnis Risks Even More Violence And Sectarianism

Saudi Arabia  warned Iraq against sectarian extremism after two weeks of protests by Sunni Muslims against Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government.
The street protests across Iraq's Sunni heartland have strained the Arab state's fragile political balance and renewed fears of intensified sectarian strife.
"We are convinced that Iraq will not stabilize until it starts handling issues without sectarian extremism... Until these issues are addressed, we don't think there will ever be stability in Iraq, which pains us," Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference in Riyadh.
Iraq's Arab majority is mostly Shi'ite but the country was dominated by Sunnis under former strongman Saddam Hussein and much of the fighting since he was deposed has fallen along sectarian lines.
Sunni Saudi Arabia has a tense relationship with Baghdad and senior princes have previously described Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as being in hock to Shi'ite Iran, in comments to U.S. diplomats released by WikiLeaks.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is locked in a struggle for regional influence with fellow OPEC-member Iran, backing opposing sides in Syria and Lebanon, where Shi'ite parties are allied to Tehran.

Slim, fast: Saudi military told to shape up, or ship out

Saudi Royal Guard officers have been ordered to slim down to receive their promotions and avoid punitive action.

Under an order from King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the officers have been given three months to shrink their waist to the ideal sizes endorsed in the military, local Arabic daily Al Sharq reported on Wednesday.

Officers who fail to lose weight and to shape up will face punitive measures that include losing their right to promotion.

Saudi criteria to join the military service include a minimum height of 175 centimetres and a weight that is in proportion to the height.
King Abdullah has been pushing since he assumed power in 2005 for sweeping positive changes and reforms in several sectors in the Saudi kingdom.

Saudi Arabia National Guard ordered 68 MPCV air defense vehicles from French company Lohr

According to French financial daily "Les Echos", the Saudi Arabian National Guard ordered 68 MPCV air defense vehicles from French company Lohr. Very little information is avaiblable on this specific vehicle, however Army Recognition saw it during Eurosatory 2012 back in June. We are therefore able to provide some details on this little-known vehicle.

The MPCV (Multi-Purpose Combat Vehicle), based on a Mercedes Unimog 5000 chassis, is an armored high-mobility 4x4 vehicle offered by SOFRAME (Lohr group). It is designed for a crew of four to ten men depending on its configuration and missions.
The version that has been ordered by Saudi Arabia National Guard is fitted with an MBDA turret which comprises:
» MBDA's MISTRAL 2 Surface-to-Air missiles
» A12.7mm self-defence machine gun
» An electro-optic sensor suite
» A fire control system
» Communication systems

MPCV, with four ready-to-fire Mistral 2 missiles (plus 4 additional munitions inside the vehicle), permits the interception of manoeuvring air targets at ranges exceeding 6 km and altitudes exceeding 3,000 m. The very-high mobility and short reaction time (2 seconds) provides this vehicle configuration with excellent air defence capabilities against saturating threats: a unit of four MPCVs can engage up to 16 different targets coming from any direction in less than 15 seconds. The system is also well adapted to the protection of deployed units or convoys, not only through its performance in autonomous detection and identification (integrated IFF) but also thanks to its capability to lock-on to targets and fire if required even when the vehicle is on the move.

Saudi F-15 jet crashes on training mission, pilot missing

A Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 jet crashed in the Gulf during a routine training exercise late on Sunday and the pilot has not been found, the defence ministry said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia maintains a powerful air force supplied primarily by equipment made in the United States and Britain.
Last year Washington announced a $29.4 billion deal to sell the new F-15, made by Boeing, to the Saudi air force. Industry sources have said the Saudis will buy 84 of the jets.
The plane that crashed was based at the King Abdulaziz Air Base in the kingdom’s Eastern Province and piloted by Lieutenant Fahd bin Falih al-Masarir, a defence ministry statement said.
The ministry said the jet went down in Saudi waters and that authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

Saudi Arabia keen on $130m Patriot missile deal

Saudi Arabia is seeking to order a $130m military package from the United States to help with its Patriot Missiles programme.
According to the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency, the Government of Saudi Arabia is asking for technical services to "recertify the functional shelf life of up to 300 Patriot guidance enhanced missiles and associated equipment".
The estimated cost is $130m, the Agency said, adding that the proposed sale was still to receive approval from the US Congress.
"The proposed recertification program will allow the Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces to extend the shelf life of the PAC-2 missiles in its inventory for an additional 12 years," it said in a statement.
The Agency said the principal contractor would be Raytheon Corporation, based in Massachusetts.

Saudis seek U.S. defense equipment buy

Saudi Arabia is seeking a U.S. Foreign Military Sales Order II to provide funds for blanket requisition of spare parts and other items for armored vehicles.

The blanket requisition in support of the country's M1A2 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles would come under the Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement between the countries and has an estimated cost of $300 million.

"This proposed sale will allow the Royal Saudi Land Forces Ordnance Corps to continue to purchase needed repair parts to maintain their fleet of M1A2S Abrams Tanks, M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, construction equipment, and support vehicles and equipment," the U.S. Defense Cooperation Agency said.

Canadian Arms Exports To U.S. and Saudi Arabia Up

 It’s only a two-country sample, and a full report won’t be made public until sometime this fall, but it appears Canadian arms companies have been enjoying unprecedentedly good times in recent years.

Foreign Affairs recently released figures detailing how much arms companies asked to export to the United States and Saudi Arabia on a year-by-year basis since 2006. The numbers were made public in response to a question from NDP MP Helene Laverdiere, and the results are surprising.

Canadian companies asked to export $49.6 million worth of guns, bombs, armoured personnel vehicles and other military equipment to the United States in 2007. By 2011, that number had increased to more than $250 million. The main areas of growth came in the form of smooth-bore guns and automatic weapons, both big and small, as well as bullets, bombs, missiles and other ammunition.

Saudi Arabia contract to DCNS for the French

The French group DCNS shipbuilding could finalize a contract billion with Saudi Arabia to modernize its fleet. According to the daily La Tribune, the signature should be between Paris and Riyadh during the visit of François Hollande in November in Saudi Arabia. The contract, called LEX (Life Extension Sawari 1) door "on the modernization of four Al Medinah class frigates and two oil-tanker class Boraida commissioned in 1985-1986" in the contract Sawari I.

This major contract to DCNS will both lengthen a ten year life of the frigates and try to win new contracts (Sawari Sawari 2 and 3) with the sale of several FREMM multi-mission frigates with vertical launchers for MBDA ASTER 30 missiles. But the export contracts involve increasingly technology transfers, establishment of production capacities on the ground state client, and partnerships with local manufacturers. Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa as the United Arab Emirates and Algeria now require technology transfer, production and on-site training.

Abu Dhabi Future "hub" naval

Biennially held in Abu Dhabi, IDEX, the largest international exhibition of defense in the Middle East. From 17 to 21 February 2013 was held in conjunction with this exhibition the NAVDEX, the international naval defense. The capital Abu Dhabi has focused its activities outside oil like Dubai in strategic sectors such as renewable energy (Masdar), aeronautics (Mubadala), defense (Tawazun) and the naval sector with Abu Dhabi Mar. With the opening of its new deep-water port, Khalifa Port, Abu Dhabi intends to make the naval sector, one of the key industrial development.

Saudis Line Up Against Syrian Regime

Following their ruler's lead, public turns anger on Assad over bloody conflict, but kingdom continues to grapple with how far its support for rebels should go

 

When King Abdullah announced a national fundraising drive to aid Syrian refugees in late July, Saudis quickly donated nearly $150 million.

Saudi national television hosted a telethon, with banks of men in traditional robes manning phone lines and computers. Donations came by text, by direct deposit into special bank accounts, or from families stuffing crumpled Riyal notes into collection boxes or donating their cars and even their watches.

Abdullah, normally a discreet behind-the-scenes conciliator, has denounced the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with rare royal rage, and his people have joined in with gusto.

Beyond humanitarian concerns, Abdullah sees an opportunity to strike a key strategic blow against Iran, Syria’s key ally and Saudi Arabia’s main rival for power in the Middle East, analysts and government officials said in interviews across this oil-rich kingdom.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran each claim to be the world’s true center of Islam. Both nations are struggling to expand their influence in a region upended by popular revolts that are shifting governments and long-standing alliances.

Assad’s government serves as Tehran’s key pipeline for transferring money and arms to Hezbollah, the Shiite militia in Lebanon. Abdullah sees Assad’s potential ouster as a way to choke off that flow and diminish the influence of an increasingly belligerent Iran, officials and analysts said.

“Syria is Iran’s entry into the Arab world,” said one Saudi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Take down Assad and you inflict a strategic blow on Iran.”

The official said Iran is “really on the ropes” because of international sanctions over its nuclear program. He said removing an ally as pivotal as Assad would make Iran “more vulnerable to sanctions.”

Financing networks: a former head of the DST involves the Qatar and Saudi

The former head of the DST (Directorate of Territorial Surveillance) Yves Bonnet Monday blamed the drug money as well as that of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in financing radical Islamist networks.

In an interview published Monday by the Depeche du Midi, M. Bonnet believes that these networks raise the issue of drug trafficking but he said "there is also the problem of money that is allocated by country Salafists."

"We dare not mention Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but it might also be that these brave people stop feeding their funds a number of actions concern," said he.

"It will take a day to open the file as Qatar where there is a real problem. And I do not care about the results of Paris Saint-Germain," he said.

Investment projects in Qatar in France raise questions in the political class. After investing in Paris Saint-Germain, in the purchase of TV broadcasting rights, then the art market, Qatar could dedicate an investment fund of 50 to 100 million euros in French suburbs.

U.S., Gulf countries seek to advance missile defense plan

The United States and its Gulf partners are looking to deepen cooperation on missile defense as tensions rise with Iran, and announcements could come soon on new purchases, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials in New York as Washington seeks to boost regional defenses against perceived Iranian threats.
"Our aim is to help our Gulf partners with their defense needs ... there is a missile threat that they face, we want to help them face that threat as best they can," one senior U.S. official said, previewing the meeting for reporters.
"We've had expressions of interest from our partners in the Gulf in additional missile defense capabilities," the official said. "We hope that we will be having announcements in the near future regarding those expressions of interest."
The official declined to provide specifics on the plans with the GCC, a political and economic alliance linking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
But Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's top supplier by sales, received an initial $1.96 billion contract in December for two of its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon systems for the United Arab Emirates, the first foreign sale of the system.
Lockheed has said other GCC members, including Saudi Arabia, have expressed interest. Other leading missile-defense contractors include Boeing Co, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman Corp.
Friday's talks reflect the increased tempo of U.S. efforts to put pressure on Tehran, which the United States and its allies say is seeking nuclear weapons capability under the cover of a civil program. Iran denies this, but has been hit with a series of international sanctions over its nuclear work.
SECURITY UMBRELLA

How Saudi Arabia Is Turning Syria's Rebels Into An Effective Army

Saudi millions and special forces expertise turn Syria's rebels into a fighting force

Syria's ragtag rebel army is being turned into a disciplined military force, with the help of tens of millions of dollars of funding from the Middle East and under the watchful gaze of foreign former special forces.

Hidden under olive groves in the rolling countryside of Syria’s northern Idlib province, of which a vast swathe is now in opposition hands, more than a dozen training camps have been set up in which young men prepare for the fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s military.

In one camp seen by The Daily Telegraph this week, recruits were put through their paces on an arduous obstacle course. Timed to the shouts of Commander Abdel Kadr, a military officer who has defected, the men vaulted walls, scrambled under razor wire mesh and swung along ropes in the tree tops.

Two men looked on from the tented sleeping quarters nearby. Tall with shaven heads, fair skin, bulging pectoral muscles, and biceps covered in tattoos, they were incongruous among the scrawny young fighters. They could not speak Arabic and were extremely unhappy in the presence of The Daily Telegraph.

The men, who use the code names Radwan and Mohammed, come from Scandinavia, but have requested that the country not be disclosed.