Saudi Ballistic Missiles

[GTX]

Triggered by this news report:

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/23/politics/saudi-ballistic-missiles-china/index.html
I must admit that I never knew the Saudis had ballistic missiles or a Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. It appears they have a mix of Chinese DF-3 and DF-21 missiles.

Moderators Note: Please keep political comments out of thread. I am posting this only for the focus on technology and capability, not politics.

 

[GTX]

Some more on this capability and history:

https://nuke.fas.org/guide/saudi/srf.pdf

 

[Archibald]

I nearly fell from my chair a while back reading that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Saudi_Strategic_Missile_Force

The missile has a maximum range of 4,000 km and was delivered following an order made by Saudi Arabia in 1987.[15] About 50 missiles (according to SIPRI) and 9~12 transporter erector launchers (TEL) were reportedly delivered in 1988, however no known test-launch has been made in the country.

I have a feeling that came right from the Iraqis bombing of Teheran with Scuds in the "War of the cities" back in the day... in 1985-86. Not that it did worked very well: Scuds couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, and even less Teheran.

 

[Dilandu]

I must admit that I never knew the Saudis had ballistic missiles or a Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. It appears they have a mix of Chinese DF-3 and DF-21 missiles.

Well, they need something to deter Iran. And since both USA and Russia were limited by treaty & could not provide short/medium range ballistics, they went for the only remaining supplier - China.

 

[Lc89]

I don't understand the astonishment. This has always been an open secret.

 

[Trident]

While it's not exactly a secret, the fact is rarely acknowledged outside very specific contexts and hence poorly known even to military enthusiasts (let alone the general public), as demonstrated by this very thread. To appreciate why the revelation causes such a great deal of astonishment in many people requires a discussion of the political aspect, I think, and is therefore off-topic.

 

[TwoTribes]

Saudi appears to have used DF-15A missiles attack Houthi. This is the first confirmation that DF-15 missiles were exported to Saudi.

 

[Sferrin]

Interesting.

 

[zjz]

https://www.twz.com/news-features/s...tash-of-ballistic-missiles-for-the-first-time

 

[zjz]

Saudi appears to have used DF-15A missiles attack Houthi. This is the first confirmation that DF-15 missiles were exported to Saudi.

Probably nearing it's shelf life, so might as well expend them .....

 

[Sineva]

Some footage of the spent boosters

https://twitter.com/x/status/2099498740520280397

I`m very surprised the saudis didnt show the actual firing of these missiles,but then again the saudi missile force is probably the most secretive part of the saudi military.
As an example they only ever paraded the DF-3A once in 2014,25 years after they received them & never even test fired any.

The only indicator of more advanced missiles being obtained was a picture of a presentation display case showing 3 models,one of which was the DA-3A,but there was always some debate about the identity of the other 2,with the larger generally considered as being the DF-21,but doubt over the smaller one with it being considered to be either the DF-11 or DF-15,now we can confirm that it was in fact the DF-15A.