Saudi Arabia - Peace Shield

[BLACKEAGLE]

Peace Shield is ae state-of-the-art C3I system developed for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The Peace Shield system also links the networks of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF), the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF)nd Royal Saudi Air Defense Force [RSADF]. The Peace Shield program, built for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, required delivery of a nationwide ground-air defense, and command, control, and communications system to the Royal Saudi Air Force. Key elements included 17 radars, a central command operations center, five sector commandand operations centers, nation widecommunications links, interfaces with all agencies having a role in national defense, and communications centers to contact and control civil and military aircraft. Central command is executed from Riyadh, while sectors are controlled from Dhahran, Raif, Tabuk, Khamis Mushait and AI Kharj. The total system includes 164 sites and more than 1,600 communications circuits.

Peace Shield integrates 17 combined AN/FPS-117 long-range radar and remote-controlled air/ground radio communications sites; and an associated telecommunications network. Data from the RSAF's 17 General Electric AN/ FPS-117 long-range 3-D radars and six Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-43 tactical radars feed the system, together with data from 10 AWACS ground entry stations. The RSLF's AN/TPS-43 radars, the Raytheon Improved HAWK air defence missile system and the radars of the RSNF are also integrated into the system.

Conceived in the early 1980s, the Peace Shield program was not begun until 1985. Procurement of the Peace Shield system was conducted a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) with the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of the US Air Force managing the contract. Hughes Aircraft Company (now Raytheon) was awarded a contract worth US$837 million by ESD for the Peace Shield program. The schedule requirements of 54 months to deliver a Peace Shield system were thought by many people to be impossible. There were some estimates as high as 116 months. They actually met 47 months. Total program cost was US$5.6 billion. Peace Shield became operational in late 1996 and is being continually upgraded under a maintenance and development program.

The seventeen General Electric FPS-117 L-band fixed, long range radars are identical to those retrofitted to USAF radar sites in Alaska under the SEEK IGLOO program. Ideally suited to severe climates, these radars are ECM-resistant and feature highly redundant circuit design and computer-controlled circuit reconfiguration which allows them to operate in what is termed "minimally attended" status on a day-to-day basis. The FPS-1l7 radars use a phased array antenna that will electronically scan a pencil beam signal in elevation while rotating in azimuth to give true three-dimensional detection capabilities. The radars are installed around the periphery of the country, and augmented the six Saudi Air Force TPS-43 and replaced the older Marconi 40T2 ground controlled intercept (GCI) radars already in the Saudi inventory.

In 1985 Saudi Arabia contracted with a consortium headed by Boeing for the Peace Shield command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) system. Its purpose was to link information collected by AWACS and ground-based surveillance radar with fighters and ground air defense, including the I-Hawk SAMs, to provide integrated air defense against attacks across the gulf and Red Sea and from the direction of Yemen. In 1991 it was announced that the Hughes Aircraft Corporation had assumed management of the project, which had been subject to delays in its completion.

The Air Force Peace Shield Litigation Team eventually included a team of eight attorneys and more than 300 support staff. This staff was detailed to the Justice Department to bring to trial the largest government contracts case ever filed against the Air Force in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims regarding a major foreign military sales program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This military and civilian team worked for four-and-a-half years on the case, eventually settling for a little more than $300 million on the government’s behalf. During Fiscal 1997, Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. entered a Plea Agreement and a Settlement Agreement resolving all litigation relating to the 1987 contract to supply diesel generator sets for installation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the "Peace Shield Litigation"). The Company paid a $2 million criminal fine, a $2 million civil penalty, and $3 million in restitution to the U.S. Air Force. A $10 million provision for fines, penalties, restitution and certain unrecognized legal fees in connection with the Peace Shield Litigation was made in the third quarter of Fiscal 1997.

The Peace Shield system allows the Royal Saudi Air Force to manage its airborne and ground-based resources. It includes a Central Command Operations Center, regional centers, long-range radars, and a number of remote facilities. Raytheon, as the system developer, continues to sustain the system under a direct contract to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Saudi Arabia buys arms directly from American corporations, bypassing Pentagon middlemen. Such purchases include the $300 million upgrade and support system for the Peace Shield radar system that the country bought directly from Raytheon in 1998. The 2002 Peace Shield Radar Upgrade [cancelled in August 2003] was market survey being conducted by the Air Force to determine potential sources capable of fulfulling a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement for the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) long range radars (AN/FPS-117) located through out the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

All seventeen (17) radars wwere modernized to provide better performance, and obsolete equipment will be replaced as part of the upgrade program. The FPS-117(V)3 L-band air surveillance radar is designed to provide real-time 3D data on all targets within the surveillance volume. The primary radar uses an antenna array with electronically scanning elevation beam and mechanical rotation in azimuth. As an option, the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) equipment will be replaced with modern Monopulse SSR (MSSR) equipment. The new equipment will retain Mode-4 capability and will allow Mode-S upgrade at a later date.

A Systems Requirements Document (SRD) would be provided to the contractors as part of the Final Request for Proposal (RFP) that is intended to provide the performance requirements of the radar. The contractor will provide all necessary engineering services to fabricate, install and deliver to the RSAF upgraded radars that satisfy the SRD requirements and to train RSAF personnel in operation and maintenance of the equipment.

The contractor will provide all necessary tools, spare parts, test equipment and materials to allow RSAF to run full operation and maintenance of all seventeen radars including radar characteristics monitoring. The contractor will maximize the use of state-of-the-art, Non-Developmental Items (NDI) hardware for the prime mission equipment, while providing highly reliable and easily maintainable radar that meets all applicable SRD requirements. The radar equipment will be fully integrated into the existing Peace Shield System, and the radar performance will be verified in accordance with the test methods specified in the SRD.

In 2003 Peace Shield work began on developing an upgraded High-Speed Network for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) at locations throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The High-Speed Network (HSN) will provide a modern communications backbone for the Royal Saudi Air Force's (RSAF's) Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) System. The complete RSAF C4I High Speed Network includes seven major nodes, the use of SATCOM at the 7 HSN Nodes, and IADs at 17 radar sites. The major nodes of the networks will be located at the RSAF Main Operations Bases (MOBs), Jeddah and Riyadh. It will ugrade HUB terminal for E1 connectivity to the HSN Nodes at Riyadh, Khamis Mushayt, Taif, Tabuk, and Dhahran. In addition to C4I Systems, the network will interconnect other communications facilities on each airbase, RSAF Headquarters (HQ), and air traffic/early warning radar data from radar sites located throughout the Kingdom.

This includes work at three Eastern Sector sites, five Northern Sector sites, and three Western Sector sites. The network is to provide a secure high-speed broadband Wide-Area Network (WAN) to support the increasing data networking requirements of the RSAF C4I System. Increased demand on bandwidth to support current operations and projected new multimedia applications are beyond the capabilities of the current network and necessitate its upgrade. The network will maintain compatibility with the existing RSAF C4I communications architecture. It will utilize existing airbase-to-airbase fiber optic connections, existing Satellite Communications (SATCOM) and leased Saudi Telecom Corporation (STC) links for connections beyond the reach of the current fiber facilities.

Links to locations within air bases will either be direct fiber optic connections or remote circuits utilizing currently available copper lines or point-to-point microwave. The network will support 10/100/1000 Mb/s switched Local Area Network (LAN) overlays employing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802 Q/p Virtual LAN (VLAN) and Quality of Service (QoS) standards. High-speed encryption will be provided to secure communications over the High Speed Network. New Video Teleconferencing (VTC) equipment and upgrade of fiber optics and the existing SATCOM equipment at locations identified in the System Requirements Document (SRD) will be part of this effort. The legacy VTC equipment will be interoperable with the new system.

In 2005 a market survey was conducted by the Air Force to determine potential sources capable of fulfilling a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement for the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) long range radars (AN/FPS-117) located throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). All seventeen (17) radars would be modernized to provide improved supportability, ease of maintenance and better performance. Obsolete equipment would be replaced as part of the upgrade program. The FPS-117(V)3 L-band air surveillance radar is designed to provide real-time 3D data on all targets within the surveillance area. The primary radar uses an antenna array with electronically scanning elevation beam and mechanical rotation in azimuth. Also, the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) equipment would be replaced with modern Monopulse SSR (MSSR) equipment. The new equipment would retain Mode-4 capability and would allow Mode-S upgrade at a later date.

The Air Education and Training Command Contracting Squadron, Randolph AFB, TX has a requirement to purchase PEACE SHIELD Information Technology Training program, C4I Technician Training Requirements (Computer Training and Certifications) support for Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron (AFSAT). The requirement includes Information Technology Technician Training which includes 1) Microsoft Computer Technician Professional Certifications; 2) Oracle Professional Certifications; 3) Network Security and ManagemenT; 4) Network+ and A+ Professional Certifications. The contractor shall be responsible to teach 11 courses to 88 students during each Gregorian calendar year, for a total of 176 students, during the two (2) year contract period.

Training is required to be conducted in the United States for Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) personnel in support of operating and maintaining Peace Shield equipment and computers. The level of training shall be taught in a consistent, high standard so as to result in course graduation of current, well-qualified, RSAF Officers and Senior Enlisted Technicians in their specified specialty / competency areas.

Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces

- Shahine / Shahine 2
141

- MIM-23B
128

- MIM-104 / PAC-3
96

- M163 VADS
60

- AMX-30SA
50

- Oerlikon GDF
128

- Bofors L/70
150

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces Modernization

The current inventory of air defense weapon systems is varied. The RSADF maintains an inventory of gun systems, self-propelled SHORAD systems, and HIMAD missile systems. To support this complex array of weapons, the RSADF has an Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC) located in each of the six group commands.

There is a modernization effort that has occurred in the Saudi military forces. Air defense, as a relatively new service, is at the forefront of this effort. There are several areas in which the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces have to examine and find competing resources to maintain and evolve their current capabilities. Most of the weapon systems of the Air Defense Forces were purchased in the 1980s and early 1990s. The Saudi government sought and purchased systems from many nations to include those from Europe, the United States, and Asia. It is this “sharing” of the wealth that will influence the future modernization of the Saudi Armed Forces and the desire to acquire the best at the best price. Governments and contractors alike must be prepared to accommodate the Kingdom’s needs with proper understanding of the cultural sensitivities that exist in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its armed forces.

The gun systems within the RSADF are used in support of maneuver units and other air defense operations as deemed necessary. Close-in, as well as medium range, systems can be found within all Group commands.

The first generation of man-portable missile systems are beginning to reach the end of their shelf life and are in the process of being destroyed. This effort was of vital importance to the Department of Defense and a significant effort for the air defense advisors within USMTM. The Mistral, a French man-portable missile system, was purchased by the SAAF in support of its armed forces. The missile was deployed throughout the different group commands. The Crotale/Shahine is another short-range system.

Raytheon has a long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, beginning more than 45 years ago with their purchase and fielding of Hawk, Raytheon’s combat-proven, medium-range air defense system. Raytheon’s business partnership with the Kingdom laid the groundwork for Saudi being among the early partner-nations to purchase the combat-proven Patriot in 1990 to protect the Kingdom's critical assets. Raytheon has provided and supports many of Saudi’s defense systems, and has a significant presence in-country. Raytheon’s Saudi Arabian IAMD Programs provide services, training and hardware for the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces. Raytheon employs U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia on either accompanied or unaccompanied assignments, living and working in Jeddah. The work force includes Saudi nationals.

The HAWK missile system was purchased by the RSADF from the United States and has gone through several product improvement plans (PIPs). The improvements help the system in targeting and missile detection. There were improvements made in radar capability, both acquisition and detection, to the command and control interface, and missile warhead.

The Patriot missile is the RSADF’s newest acquisition, first purchased in 1990. There was little doubt that Saudi Arabia needed a longer-range air defense missile than the Hawk then in its inventory. Saudi Arabia had recognized this need for some time, and by 1990 the regional threat led the US to deploy Patriot to protect American forces in the region. One particular value of Patriot is that it is the only system available that provides any defense against tactical ballistic missiles. Six fire units, the equivalent of one standard U.S. Patriot Battalion, was an extremely modest capability given the area that Saudi Arabia must defend. This helped close an urgent gap in Saudi Arabia’s defense capability.

The United States’ status as first in the value of arms transfer agreements with the Third World in 1992 is directly attributable to costly new orders from Saudi Arabiaand Kuwait. The Saudis bought 12 PATRIOT missile ?re units and associated missiles, expensive military support services, and bombs and missiles for Saudi ?ghter aircraft; and Kuwait purchased 6 PATRIOT missile ?re units and 6 HAWK missile batteries and associated missiles.

Finally, the Air Defense Operations Center underwent modifications that will allow it to integrate all air defense assets under one command and control system. There were some decisions by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States that have impacted the progress of the modifications. Completion of this effort wasachieved during 2003 when a final certification and acceptance test was conducted and successfully completed.

The RSADF had many weapon systems within its arsenal. However, age and technological improvements have required the RSADF to examine how to resource all of the requirements it sees as essential to the future. This provides a unique environment for security cooperation operations within USMTM. How this is accomplished will reflect the potential changes by the RSADF and therefore the requirement by USMTM, the U.S., and contractors to understand the changes that are occurring within the Kingdom and to plan and respond accordingly.

Some examples of how USMTM advisors can influence the direction of the RSADF can be shown through recent cultural, military, and support assistance efforts. After September 2001, the effects on the Saudi military reflect the “perceived” attitudes and action taken by the U.S. Cancellation of training and schooling in the United States was immediate and a self-protection mechanism for the SAAF. Breaking this mold was paramount for the advisors. The air defense advisors used several mechanisms that resulted in the thawing of relations and a return of confidence in the U.S. government.

The deployment and rotation of US Patriot Task Forces to the Kingdom every four months made the interface and exchange between the RSADF and U.S. Patriot forces difficult at best. The air defense advisors were in the Kingdom for one to two years. Understanding that relations within the Saudi culture are built over time allows the air defense advisors to be the conduit through which military-to-military exchanges occur in a more relaxed and routine manner, despite the ebb of constant change.

On June 21, 2011 Raytheon Company received a $1.7 billion Direct Commercial Sales contract to upgrade Saudi Arabia's Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the latest Configuration-3. The award included ground-system hardware, a full training package and support equipment upgrades. "Raytheon is honored to provide the most technologically advanced air and missile defense system in the world to Saudi Arabia," said Tom Kennedy, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). "We are pleased that, with this contract, they have shown further confidence in Raytheon and the superior air and missile defense capabilities of the Patriot system." The business partnership of Raytheon and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spans 45 years and a number of programs. Raytheon first supplied the combat-proven Patriot system to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s to protect the nation's critical assets. Subject to customary U.S. regulatory approvals, work under this contract will be performed by Raytheon at the Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, Mass. and in Saudi Arabia.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress 26 November 2012 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for technical services to recertify the functional shelf life of up to 300 PATRIOT Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) (MIM-104D) Guidance Enhanced Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $130 million. The Government of Saudi Arabia requested a possible sale of technical services to recertify the functional shelf life of up to 300 PATRIOT Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) (MIM-104D) Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM), modernization of existing equipment, spare and repair parts, support equipment, U.S. Government and contractor representatives logistics, engineering, and technical support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support. The proposed recertification program will allow the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces to extend the shelf life of the PAC-2 missiles in its inventory for an additional twelve years.

As of early 2012 discussions were under way for a THAAD sale to Saudi Arabia. Washington was also urging the kingdom to upgrade its 16 Patriot Advanced Capability-2 batteries, which have 96 missiles, to PAC-3 standard.

 

[Doritos11]

---edited---

 

[Zarvan]

@BLACKEAGLE @Mosamania Saudi Arabia needs to get some new Awacs they really need some new ones which the the most modern in the market How many Anti Air and Anti Aircraft Missiles they have in their arsenal ?

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

@BLACKEAGLE @Mosamania Saudi Arabia needs to get some new Awacs they really need some new ones which the the most modern in the market How many Anti Air and Anti Aircraft Missiles they have in their arsenal ?

Their Awacs were upgraded few years ago, and they are going to get 2 Saab-2000 AEW AEW&C aircrafts.

53 AMX-30SA SPAAG 1975 1979-1982 (53)

(550) R-460 Shahine SAM 1975 1980-1982 (550) Developed for Saudi Arabia from R-440 Crotale missile; for Shahine-1 SAM systems

12 Shahine SAM system 1975 1980-1982 (12) Developed from Crotale SAM system for Saudi Arabia

(8) Crotale SAM system 1979 1980-1981 (8) Crotale-4000 version

(300) R-440 Crotale SAM 1979 1980-1981

(175) R-440 Crotale SAM 1980 1985-1986 (175) For F-2000S (Madina) frigates; R-440N version

(8) Crotale SAM system 1984 1985-1986 (8) Crotale-4000 version

(250) R-440 Crotale SAM 1984 1985-1986 (250)


(1500) R-460 Shahine SAM 1984 1986-1990 (1500) Part of $4.1 b 'Al Thakeb' deal; Shahine-2 version; for Shahine and Shanine-2 SAM systems


(24) Shahine SAM system 1984 1986-1990 (24) Part of $4.1 b 'Al Thakeb' deal


10 Shahine ATTS SAM system 1984 1986-1990 (10) Part of $4.1 b 'Al Thakeb' deal

(700) Mistral Portable SAM 1989 1991-1992 (700)

(6) Crotale SAM system 1990 1991 6 Ex-French

(175) R-440 Crotale SAM 1990 1991 (175) Possibly ex-French

(75) ASTER-15 SAAM SAM (1997) 2002-2004 (75) For F-3000S (Al Riyadh) frigates

(1000) Mistral Portable SAM 2006 2007-2010 (1000) EUR500m deal; for National Guard

(800) Mistral Portable SAM 2011 For MPCV SAM systems; Mistral-2 version

(20) Skyranger AA gun (2004) 2008-2009 (20) CHF375 m ($360 m) deal

(1458) MIM-23B HAWK SAM 1974 1978-1981 (1458)

6 I-HAWK SAM system 1976 1978-1981 (6)

310 FIM-43C Redeye Portable SAM 1979 1979-1980 (310) $6 m deal

10 I-HAWK SAM system (1982) 1983-1985 (10) Saudi HAWK SAM systems rebuilt to I-HAWK

400 FIM-92 Stinger Portable SAM 1984 1984 400 $30 m deal (incl 200 launchers)

200 FIM-92 Stinger Portable SAM 1990 1990 200 Delivered in reaction to Iraqi 1990 invasion of Kuwait (Gulf War)

384 MIM-104C PAC-2 SAM 1990 1993-1994 (384) Part of $984 m deal

8 Patriot SAM system 1990 1993-1994 (8) Part of $984 m deal

761 MIM-104C PAC-2 SAM 1992 1995-1997 (761) Part of $1 b deal

13 Patriot SAM system 1992 1995-1997 (13) Part of $1 b deal

629 MIM-104C PAC-2 SAM 1993 1998-1999 (629)

MIM-104F PAC-3 SAM (2011) For modernized Patriot SAM systems; contract probably not yet signed

21 Patriot PAC-3 SAM system 2011 $1.7 b deal; Saudi Patriot SAM systems rebuilt to Patriot-3 version

 

[al-Hasani]

Love it. Amazing progress. Should effectively scare away any war monger who would like to hurt the beautiful and ancient lands of the Two Holy Mosques.

 

[A.Rafay]

Looks impressive! Keep up!

 

[Zarvan]

Love it. Amazing progress. Should effectively scare away any war monger who would like to hurt the beautiful and ancient lands of the Two Holy Mosques.

well I have an idea in my mind. that is all Muslim countries should born a combined air force of 100 most advanced fighter jets and missile systems off all kinds for protection of Makkah and madinah and call it MM air force @BLACKEAGLE @Arabian Legend

 

[al-Hasani]

well I have an idea in my mind. that is all Muslim countries should born a combined air force of 100 most advanced fighter jets and missile systems off all kinds for protection of Makkah and madinah and call it MM air force @BLACKEAGLE @Arabian Legend

It sounds like a good idea but would the Muslim world be united on such a stand? My impression is that all Muslims regardless of sect will do their best to defend Makkah and Madinah should they ever be attacked which I seriously doubt. If that happens it would start a WW3 or be the end of this world as we know it.

Makkah and Madinah have existed as a pilgrimage site for Muslims for 1400 years now and no outsider has ever attacked it. If they would they would have at least have attempted such a attack long ago but they know the consequences of it so they would not do it and have not ever done it.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Skyranger AA gun

 

[DarkEagle6]

Skyranger AA gun

Is that mounted on an Al Fahd 8x8?

Does anyone know anything about Military Industries Corporation? How many companies are affiliated with it? Any other land vehicle companies besides Abdallah al faris and avf?

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Skyranger AA gun

Is that mounted on an Al Fahd 8x8?

Does anyone know anything about Military Industries Corporation? How many companies are affiliated with it? Any other land vehicle companies besides Abdallah al faris and avf?

No it's not mounted on Al Fahd 8x8. Military cooperation between Turkey on one side and GCC and Jordan on the other side is on the highest levels.

 

[DarkEagle6]

No it's not mounted on Al Fahd 8x8. Military cooperation between Turkey on one side and GCC and Jordan on the other side is on the highest levels.

Of course, and Jordan bought Al Shibls from Saudi a few years ago which makes sense. And Turkey has made heavy investments in the saudi defense space with the Otokar and FNSS factories that were set up in KSA.

I am still confused by Military Industries Corp? Does anyone understand this?

 

[JonAsad]

So nice to see the holy cities are well protected-

Keep up the state of the art procurements- -