Saudi Arabian army



The Royal Saudi Land Forces (KSA) (القُوَّاتُ البَرِّيَّةُ المَلَكِيَّة السُّـعُودِيَّة), also called the Saudi Arabian army (الجَيْشُ العَرَبيّ السُّـعُودِيَّ Al-Jaysh Al-Araby al-Saudi), are the largest branch of the Saudi Arabia Armed Forces. The Chief of the Saudi General Staff until 2011 was Field Marshal Saleh Al-Muhaya.

History
The modern RSLF has its roots in the first Saudi State, which was formed as early as 1745, and is considered to be the birth year of the Saudi army. As of 13 January 1902 was founded as the Royal Saudi Land Forces, and is the oldest branch of the KSA's military.

Other events that led to an expansion of the Saudi Army were the Arab–Israeli conflict in 1948, the fall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the subsequent fears of possible Shia's actions, and in the last years the first Gulf War in 1990. In the year 2000, Saudi Arabia's government spent billions of dollars to expand the Saudi Forces including the Saudi Army.

Saudi Arabia's armed forces suffer severe difficulties due to their over-reliance on foreign contractor support and unwillingness to conduct realistic training. Much very modern equipment is not properly understood or used.

Mohammad bin Salman was appointed Defense Minister when his father,who had been Minister,became King in 2015.

First Saudi State (1745–1818)

 * Battle of Riyadh (1746)
 * Battle of Al-Hayer (1764)
 * Battle of ghrimeel (1789)
 * Ibn Ufaisan's Invasion (1793)
 * Invasion of Qatar (1793–1798)
 * Battle of Khakeekera (1801)
 * Ottoman–Saudi War (1811–1818)

Saudi State (1818–1891)

 * Rebellion against Egypt Eyalet (1821–1824)
 * Saudi Civil War (1865–1875)
 * Al-Hasa Expedition (1870–1871)
 * Battle of Arwa (1883) (1883)
 * Battle of Mulayda (1891)

The Unification of Saudi Arabia (1902–1933)
Battle of Kinzaan (1915)
 * Battle of Riyadh (1902)
 * Battle of Dilam (1903)
 * First Saudi–Rashidi War (1903–1907)
 * Battle of Hadia (1910)
 * Conquest of al-Hasa (1913)
 * Battle of Jarrab (1915)
 * First Saudi–Hashemite War (1918–1919)
 * Kuwait-Saudi War (1919–1920)
 * Second Saudi–Rashidi War (1921)
 * Saudi-Transjordan War (1922)
 * Second Saudi-Hashemite War (1924–1925)
 * Ikhwan Revolt (1927–1930)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1933–present)

 * Saudi–Yemeni War (1934)
 * 1948 Arab–Israeli War more than 3,000 Saudi troops participated in combat against Israel.
 * 1967 RSLF deployed over 20,000 troops in Jordan.
 * 1969 Al-Wadiah War. South Yemeni Forces invaded Al-Wadiah, a Saudi town, but later were defeated by the Saudi Army.
 * 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, Saudi Arabia airlifted a light armored battalion of Panhard AML-90s and 3,000 troops to Syria four days after the conflict began. The Saudi expeditionary forces participated in a number of relatively minor clashes with the IDF between October 16-19, mostly in concert with the Jordanian 40th Armored Brigade.
 * 1979 Grand Mosque seizure. The Saudi army and SANG, together with Pakistani and French commandoes, reclaimed the mosque from extremist insurgents.
 * Gulf War (1990–91) Together with the allied forces, the Saudi army and SANG played a major part in the Battle of Khafji and the Liberation of Kuwait.
 * 2007–10 Houthi Insurgency. Yemeni Houthis attacked southern Saudi Arabia and were defeated by the Saudi army.
 * 2015 Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen at the request of the Yemeni president to repel Houthi rebels allied with the deposed Ali Abdullah Saleh, as part of the Yemeni Civil War (2015).



Structure


The combat strength of the Saudi Army consists of 4 Armoured, 5 Mechanized, 2 Light Infantry (1 Royal Guards, 1 Special Forces) Brigades. The Saudi Army deployed the 12th Armoured Brigade and 6th Mechanized Brigade at King Faisal Military City in the Tabuk area. It deployed the 4th Armoured Brigade, and 11th Mechanized Brigade at King Abdul Aziz Military City in the Khamis Mushayt area. It deployed the 20th Mechanized Brigade and 8th Mechanized Brigade at King Khalid Military City near Hafr al Batin. The 10th Mechanized Brigade is deployed at Sharawrah, which is near the border with Yemen and about 150 kilometers from Zamak.

Despite the addition of a number of units and increased mobility achieved during the 1970s and 1980s, the army's personnel complement has expanded only moderately since a major buildup was launched in the late 1960s. The army has been chronically understrength, in the case of some units by an estimated 30 to 50 percent. These shortages have been aggravated by a relaxed policy that permitted considerable absenteeism and by a serious problem of retaining experienced technicians and noncommissioned officers (NCOs). The continued existence of a separate national guard also limited the pool of potential army recruits.

Armor
 * 4th (King Khaled) Armoured Brigade
 * 6th (King Fah'd) Armoured Brigade
 * 7th (Prince Sultan) Armoured Brigade
 * 8th (King Fah'd) Armoured Brigade
 * 10th (King Faisal) Armoured Brigade
 * 12th (Khalid ibn al-Walid) Armoured Brigade

A typical Saudi armoured brigade has an armoured reconnaissance company, three tank battalions with 35 tanks each, a mechanized infantry battalion with AIFVs/APCs, and an artillery battalion with 18 self-propelled guns. It also has an army aviation company, an engineer company, a logistic battalion, a field workshop, and a medical company.

Mechanized
 * 11th Mechanized Brigade
 * 12th Mechanized Brigade
 * 13th Mechanized Brigade
 * 14th Mechanized Brigade
 * 20th Mechanized Brigade

A typical Saudi mechanized brigade has an armoured reconnaissance company, one tank battalion with 40 tanks, three mechanized infantry battalions with AIFVs/APCs, and an artillery battalion with 18 self-propelled guns. It also has an army aviation company, an engineer company, a logistic battalion, a field workshop, and a medical company. It has 24 anti-tank guided weapons launchers and four mortar sections with a total of eight 81 mm mortars.

Infantry Each infantry brigade consists of three motorized battalions, an artillery battalion, and a support battalion. Army brigades should not be confused with Saudi Arabian National Guard brigades.
 * 16th (King Saud) Light motorized infantry brigade
 * 17th (Abu Bakr Assiddeeq) Light motorized infantry brigade
 * 18th (King Abdullah) Light motorized infantry brigade
 * 19th (?Umar ibn Al-Khatt?b) Light motorized infantry brigade

Airborne Units and Special Security Forces
 * The 1st Airborne Brigade
 * 4th Airborne Battalion
 * 5th Airborne Battalion
 * 64th Special Forces Brigade
 * 85th Special Forces Battalion

The Airborne Brigade is normally deployed near Tabuk. The Airborne Brigade has two parachute battalions and three Special Forces companies. Saudi Arabia is expanding its Special Forces and improving their equipment and training to help deal with the threat of terrorism. The Special Forces have been turned into independent fighting units to help deal with terrorists, and report directly to Prince Sultan.

Artillery Battalions
 * five artillery battalions
 * 14th FA (Towed, 155) Battalion
 * 15th FA (MLRS) Battalion
 * 18th Missile (MLRS) Battalion

Aviation
 * 1st Aviation Group
 * 2nd Aviation Group
 * 3rd Aviation Group
 * 4th Aviation Group

The separate Royal Guard Regiment consists of four light infantry battalions.

Main equipment
Note that figures below do not include war losses due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Army aviation

 * (Anti-Air systems belong to Air Defense Force)