| Royal Saudi Air Force | |
|---|---|
Flag of the RSAF |
|
| Founded | 1920s - Present |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Allegiance | Saudi Arabia |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Type | Military Aviation |
| Role | Aerial warfare |
| Size | 20,000 |
| Part of | Saudi Arabian Armed Forces |
| Nickname | RSAF |
| Engagements | Gulf War : Desert Shield Battle of Khafji Desert Storm Sa'dah Insurgency[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of Air Staff | Lt. General Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Ayish |
| Notable commanders |
Sultan bin Salman |
| Insignia | |
| RSAF Roundels | |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Panavia Tornado IDS Panavia Tornado GR4 Eurofighter Typhoon |
| Bomber | Boeing F-15S Panavia Tornado IDS Panavia Tornado GR4 |
| Electronic warfare |
Boeing RE-3A Boeing E-3A |
| Fighter | Boeing F-15C/S Eurofighter Typhoon |
| Interceptor | Boeing F-15C/S Eurofighter Typhoon |
| Reconnaissance | Northrop RF-5E Panavia Tornado IDS |
| Trainer | Pilatus PC-9A |
| Transport | Lockheed C-130 |
The Royal Saudi Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية الملكية السعودية, al-quwwāt al-ğawwiyyah al-malakiyyah as-suʿūdiyyah), is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabian armed forces. The RSAF has developed from a largely defensive military force into one with an advanced offensive capability. The RSAF maintains the third largest fleet of F-15s after the JASDF and the USAF.
The backbone of the RSAF is currently the Boeing F-15 Eagle, with the Panavia Tornado also forming a major component. The Tornado and many other aircraft were delivered under the Al Yamamah contracts with British Aerospace (now BAE Systems). The RSAF ordered various weapons in the 1990s, including Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles, laser-guided bombs and gravity bombs. Al-Salam, a successor to the Al Yamamah agreement will see 72 Eurofighter Typhoons delivered by BAE.
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The RSAF was formed in the mid-1920s with British assistance. It was re-organized in 1950 and began to receive American assistance from 1952 including the use of Dhahran by the United States Air Force.
The Saudi forces are equipped with mainly western hardware. Main suppliers are companies in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Both the UK and the US are involved in training programs conducted in Saudi Arabia.
During the Eighties and Nineties, for Middle Eastern standards the armed forces of Saudi Arabia were relatively small. Its strength however was derived from advanced technology. The backbone of the fighter force is formed by 134 Tornados from which a batch of 48 Tornado IDS was ordered in 1993 under the al-Yamamah II program and 72 F-15S aircraft delivered from the mid-90s that operate besides the more than 120 F-15C/D aircraft delivered starting in 1981. Aircraft training is executed on the Pilatus PC-9, BAe Hawk, Boeing F-15D Eagle and the Northrop F-5F Tiger II. The C-130 is the mainstay of the transport fleet and the Hercules is assisted by CASA CN-235s. Reconnaissance is performed by 17sq with their RF-5E and the Boeing E-3A is the Airborne Early Warning platform operated by 18sq.
The VIP support fleet consists of a wide variety of civil registered aircraft such as the Boeing B707, B737 and B747, Lockheed Tri-Stars, MD11s and G1159A as well as Lockheed L-100-30. The HZ- prefix used in the civilian registrations of these aircraft derived from the former name of the territory (Hejaz)
The Al Yamamah contract was controversial because of the alleged bribes associated with its award. Nonetheless, the RSAF announced its intention to purchase the Eurofighter Typhoon from BAE Systems in December 2005. On 18 August 2006 a memorandum of understanding was signed for 72 aircraft in a GB£6-10 billion deal.[2]
Following this order, the investigation of the Al Yamamah contract was suppressed by the British Prime minister Tony Blair in December 2006, citing "strategic interests" of the UK. On the 17 September 2007 Saudi Arabia announced they had signed a £4.4bn deal with BAE Systems for 72 Eurofighter Typhoons.[3]
On 29 December 2011, the United States signed a $29.4 billion Deal to sell 84 F-15s in the SA (Saudi Advanced) configuration. The sale includes upgrades for the older F-15s up to the SA standard and related equipent and services.[4]
The RSAF units are divided into Wings that are dispersed across the seven air bases:
on 11 Agust 2011, Royal air force receive 24 Typhoon from Uk air force (Taif Airbase) On 12 August 2009, UPI reported that Saudi Arabia was seeking upgrades for their E-3 fleet and aerial refuelling tanker aircraft.[5]
In October 2010, a interest for a 60 billions USD defense procurement package from the US was unvailed. It consists of around 30 billions for 84 F-15SEs fighters, upgrade of the existing F-15S to the same standard, parts and munitions as well as other 30 billions for 72 UH-60M, 36 AH-6I, 36 AH-64D, 12 MD530 helicopters and parts. The helicopter request has not yet been approved.[6]
| Aircraft | Origin | Role | Versions | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter Aircraft | ||||||
| Boeing F-15SA | United States | Fighter | SA | None | 84 on order[7][8] | |
| Boeing F-15 Eagle | United States | Fighter | C D |
84 25 |
||
| Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle | United States | Strike fighter | S | 72 | to be upgraded to SA standard[9] | |
| Panavia Tornado IDS | United Kingdom | Ground Attack | 87 | Being upgraded at a cost of $4.66 billion. | ||
| Panavia Tornado ADV | United Kingdom | Fighter | 24 | To be withdrawn from service & shipped to the UK in a buy back package part of the Al Salam deal for 72 Typhoon F2. | ||
| Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter II | United States | Fighter | E F |
83 37 |
Withdrawn from frontline service aside from the training role, some squadrons such as #10 based in Taif will be replaced with the Eurofighter Typhoon. | |
| Eurofighter Typhoon | United Kingdom | Fighter | T.2 T.3A |
24 48 |
A further 72 may be ordered, 48 will be assembled in Saudi Arabia | |
| Trainer Aircraft | ||||||
| BAe Hawk | United Kingdom | Advanced Trainer | Mk. 65 Mk. 65A |
30 20 |
||
| BAe Jetstream | United Kingdom | Trainer | 31 | 2 | ||
| Super Mushshaaq | Pakistan | Trainer | - | 20 | ||
| Pilatus PC-9 | Switzerland | Trainer | - | 50 | ||
| Reims Cessna F172 | France | Trainer | G H M |
16 | ||
| Transport Aircraft | ||||||
| Airbus A340 | France | Transport | A340-213 | 1 | Royal Flight | |
| Airbus A330 | France | Transport & refuelling | MRTT | 6 | On order.[10] | |
| BAe 125 | United Kingdom | Transport | B | 4 | Royal Flight | |
| Boeing 747 | United States | VIP Transport | 747-300 747SP |
2 | Royal Flight | |
| Boeing 757 | United States | Medical Transport | - | 1 | ||
| Boeing Business Jet | United States | Transport | BBJ1 BBJ2 |
1 1 |
Royal Flight | |
| Boeing E-3 Sentry | United States | AWACS | 5 | seeking upgrades | ||
| Boeing KE-3A | United States | Airborne Refuelling | A | 8 | Being upgraded & then replaced by A330 MRRT | |
| CASA CN-235 | Spain | Transport | M-10 | 4 | Royal Flight | |
| Cessna 550 Citation | United States | Transport | C550 | 4 | Royal Flight | |
| Gates Learjet 35 | United States | Transport | A | 2 | Both transferred to the Royal Saudi Armed Forces Medical Wing in July 2009 | |
| Gulfstream III | United States | Transport | - | 2 | ||
| Gulfstream V | United States | Medical Transport | - | 2 | ||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | United States | Transport Airborne Refuelling VIP Transport |
E/H KC-130H VC-130H |
30 7 5 |
||
| Lockheed L-100 | United States | Transport | L-100-30 | 6 | ||
| McDonnell Douglas MD-11 | United States | Transport | MD-11 | 1 | Royal Flight | |
| Transport Helicopters | ||||||
| Agusta-Bell 212 | Italy | Transport Helicopter | - | 27 | ||
| Agusta-Bell AS-61 | Italy | Transport Helicopter | A-4 | 3 | Royal Flight | |
| Bell 205 | United States | Transport Helicopter | - | 24 | ||
| Bell 412 | United States | Transport Helicopter | EP | 2 | ||
| Eurocopter AS-532 Cougar | France | Combat Search and Rescue | M | 12 | ||
| Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin | France | Naval Helicopter Medical Helicopter |
F N |
24 | The SA-365F variants are operated by Royal Saudi Naval Aviation. | |
| Eurocopter SA-332 Super Puma | France | Naval Helicopter | F | 13 | Operated by Royal Saudi Naval Aviation. | |
| Kawasaki-Vertol 107 | Japan | Transport Helicopter | - | 18 | Operated by the Ministry of the Interior | |
| Total : | +1009 | Including the 72 Eurofighter Typhoon + 72 F-15 SA + 48 AH-64 Apache + 72 UH-60 Black Hawk | ||||
The following officers have been commanders of the RSAF:
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