Saudi Arabia signs $1.7bn defense deal

[somebozo]

Arab news
Saudi Arabia signs $1.7bn defense deal

By ROGER HARRISON | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 21, 2011 22:43 Updated: Jun 21, 2011 22:43

PARIS: Saudi Arabia has placed a $1.7 billion direct commercial sales contract with Raytheon Company to upgrade the Kingdom’s Patriot Air and Missile Defense System to the latest Configuration-3. The award includes ground-system hardware, a full training package and support equipment upgrades.

The announcement came Tuesday at the Paris Air Show where military and commercial deals are done for both military and civilian aircraft and technology.

“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.”

Raytheon first supplied the combat-proven Patriot system to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s to protect the nation’s critical assets. Subject to customary US regulatory approvals, work under this contract will be performed by Raytheon at the Integrated Air Defense Center in Andover, Massachusetts, and in Saudi Arabia. The newly redesigned Patriot protects against a full range of advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and UAVs.

The bi-annual Paris Air Show opened on Monday at Le Bourget with two industry giants Boeing and Airbus announcing a combined $20 billion of orders. Airbus, owned by European high-tech giant EADS, with its Asian orders for its new fuel-efficient A320neo accounted for 142 firm orders worth $15.1 billion.

Boeing started well, selling 22 planes for $3.435 billion with US leasing firms ALC and GECAS updating their fleets and the fast-growing Gulf carriers Qatar and Saudi Arabian Airlines in the mix.

Jim Albaugh, chief of Boeing’s commercial aircraft operations, said the market was coming back strongly and observed that smaller firms from emerging countries such as China and Brazil were starting to impact on the market.

“Traffic is coming back in very strong fashion,” Albaugh told a briefing, adding that the days of the Airbus-Boeing “duopoly” are over.

The market is a glittering prize for the big manufacturers. Last week Boeing said that 33,500 planes worth $4 trillion would be needed over the next 20 years. Embraer of Brazil, which has rocketed to be the world’s third-largest plane maker with over 1,000 orders in just seven years of existence, netted $1.7 billion of orders of its 70-120 seat regional jets.

Commercial aviation seems to be dominating the show with cutbacks in spending by governments limiting purchases. This was ironically not entirely negative news for Raytheon, the missile and radar giant.

VP and Regional Executive for MENA Kevin Messengill said that cutbacks in the purchase in new platforms for Raytheon’s missile and sensor technology created a niche market.

“It is far less expensive to upgrade an aircraft’s radar and missile systems or other systems than to replace the entire platform,” he said.

He felt that this would provide a sound revenue stream during the downturn in the global economy and that Raytheon was precisely placed to capitalize on the expected demand. The placement of the Saudi Arabian order reinforced his optimistic view.

There was a distinct increase of remote controlled surveillance aircraft and the associated radar and computer technology for surveillance and remote strikes.

The day of the drones approaches as the balance of warfare changes from massive set pieces between superpowers to the asymmetric nature of insurgent threat characterized by small mobile units or even individuals. Counter-insurgency by data gathering, analysis and projection to forward fighting units seems to be very much on the rise.

At the other extreme, the threat of attack by Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) may have receded somewhat but remains a distinct possibility as an increasing number of nations develop both space and nuclear programs.

Tuesday should have seen the flight of the technological star attraction of the show, the solar powered Solar Impulse that recently circumnavigated the globe powered entirely from solar energy. The 10 a.m. flight was canceled to the disappointment of enthusiastic visitors on a sunless morning under gray clouds.

While Impulse was earthbound, other green pleasures were however on hand. Italian aircraft interior designer Giugiaro Design presented a concept BMW hydrogen powered concept car. An in-line two-seater that uses twin joysticks to steer brought together the best of Italian design and German engineering and drew an admiring crowd of aficionados.

© 2010 Arab News

 

[Banana]

Can their Woman launch Missiles?

 

[Devil Soul]

Can their Woman launch Missiles?

Target ---> Banana @ Defence.pk

 

[Mo12]

SA are on its way to be the strongest muslim nation in the world.

fantastic buy here

 

[DV RULES]

they are going to be stronger in their defense.

 

[Banana]

Target ---> Banana @ Defence.pk

A Jihadini!

 

[Kevrai]

they are going to be stronger in their defense.

they spend 11.2% of their GDP on defense.....they better be strong

 

[lynx]

SA are on its way to be the strongest muslim nation in the world.

fantastic buy here

I disagree. They don't have enough men (as women are not allowed) to operate and maintain all that high-tech machinery and also SA has a very weak Military-Industrial Complex.

 

[VelocuR]

Not really strong country. They still need West's help to maintain their machines. Without West, Arab like Saudi Arabia can be easily defeated.

Why Arabs Need Their Foreign Mercenaries
by James Dunnigan
March 24, 2011

Saudi Arabia recently bought 72 Typhoon jet fighters from Britain. The manufacturer, BAE Systems, is energetically recruiting qualified maintenance personnel to keep these aircraft flying. Few Saudis will be recruited, most of these technicians will come from the West. Why is that?

The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia is 12 percent, but many of those men are unemployed by choice. Arabs tend to have a very high opinion of themselves, and most jobs available, even to poorly educated young men, do not satisfy. Thus most Saudis prefer a government job, where the work is easy, the pay is good, the title is flattering, and life is boring. In the non-government sector of the economy, 90 percent of the Saudi jobs are taken by foreigners. These foreigners comprise 27 percent of the Saudi population, mostly to staff all the non-government jobs. This means most young Saudi men have few challenges. One might say that many of them are desperate for some test of their worth, and a job in the competitive civilian economy does not do it, nor does the military.

The Saudi employment situation is not unique. The UAE (United Arab Emirates) has foreigners occupying 99 percent of the non-government jobs. The unemployment rate is 23 percent, but only a tenth of those are actually looking for a job. A survey indicated that most of the unemployed are idle by choice. Kuwait is more entrepreneurial, with only 80 percent of the non-government jobs taken by foreigners. The other Gulf Arab states (which have less oil) have a similar situation.

While the thousands of aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles and other high-tech systems Saudi Arabia has bought in the last decade look impressive, the actual impact of all this lethal hardware depends a lot on the skill of those using it. In this department, the Saudis have some serious problems. And it is generally very difficult to get Saudis to even discuss the situation.

Examples are widely available, and seen daily by the thousands of Western technicians, specialists and trainers hired by Saudi Arabia to keep their high-tech gear operational. For example, Saudis, and Arabs in general, don't care for the Western custom of establishing minimum standards for, say, fighter pilots. It's long been known that it is very difficult to wash out a Saudi pilot who is well connected (especially a member of the huge royal family). There are some very good Saudi pilots, but they are a minority. The rest get by. As long as they can take off and land, they can stay in a squadron. During combat exercises, especially with American squadrons, it's understood that the low overall performance of Saudi pilots is not to be discussed with the Saudis, or anyone else. Junior American officers get irked by this, but it's career suicide to disobey orders on this point. The Saudis do spend a lot of money on training and letting the pilots fly. For this reason, they are considered marginally better than other Arab air forces. But against the Iranians, who more enthusiastically accepted Western training methods, they would have problems. Iranian aircraft are older and less well equipped, but pilot quality would make up for a lot of that.

The problem extends to ground crews, who don't take responsibility seriously and have to be constantly hounded by their foreign advisors and specialists hired to make sure the aircraft are flyable. And when something goes wrong, the foreign experts are expected to take the blame. That's what the foreigners are there for.

Many Saudis are aware of the problem, especially those who have studied in the West, or spent some time there. As a result, there are some very competent Saudi doctors, scientists and bankers. But this minority knows they are up against an ancient and well entrenched culture that does not seek out innovation and excellence as it is done in the West. The more insightful Saudis seek ways to work around these problems. For example, the royal family established the National Guard in the 1930s, as a private, tribal army, that is now almost as large as the regular army and considered more dependable and effective than the regulars. That's because the National Guard troops follow traditional rules of military leadership, and have a personal relationship with the king. Only men from tribes that are known to be loyal to the Saud family may join, and they are expected to make their family and tribe proud. Saddam Hussein, and other Arab leaders, form similar forces. Saddam had his Republican Guard. Despots the world over tend to have a guard force recruited more for blood ties and loyalty, than for anything else.

The regular forces (army, navy and air force) are just government jobs, run by another government bureaucracy. There are lower standards because there are none of the family or tribal ties that demand better. Only in the West do most people give the same devotion and respect to non-family/tribal institutions.

It comes down to a different cultural attitude towards taking responsibility for your actions. It's human nature to avoid failure, or taking responsibility for a mistake. Thus we have the concept of "saving face." One reason the West has made such economic, cultural, military and social progress in the last five hundred years is because they developed a habit of holding people responsible for their actions and giving out the rewards based on achievement. In the West, this sort of thing is taken for granted, even if it is not always practiced.

But in much of the rest of the world, especially the Arab world, things are different. Most Arab countries are a patchwork of different tribes and groups, and Arab leaders survive by playing one group off against another. Loyalty is to one's group, not the nation. Most countries are dominated by a single group that is usually a minority, as in Bedouins in Jordan, Alawites in Syria, Sunnis in Iraq (formerly) and Nejdis in Saudi Arabia. All of which means that officers are assigned not by merit but by loyalty and tribal affiliation.

Arab military leaders consider it acceptable to lie to subordinates and allies in order to further their personal agenda. This had catastrophic consequences during all of the Arab-Israeli wars and continues to make peace difficult between Israelis and Palestinians. When called out on this behavior, Arabs will assert that they were "misunderstood."

American officers and NCOs are only too happy to impart their wisdom and skill to others (teaching is the ultimate expression of prestige), but Arab officers try to keep any technical information and manuals secret. To Arabs, the value and prestige of an individual is based not on what he can teach, but on what he knows that no one else knows.

While Western officers thrive on competition among themselves, Arab officers avoid this as the loser would be humiliated. Better for everyone to fail together than for competition to be allowed, even if it eventually benefits everyone.

Western troops are taught leadership and technology; Arabs are taught only technology. Leadership is given little attention as officers are assumed to know this by virtue of their social status as officers.

In Arab bureaucracies, initiative is considered a dangerous trait. So subordinates prefer to fail rather than make an independent decision. Battles are micromanaged by senior generals, who prefer to suffer defeat rather than lose control of their subordinates. Even worse, an Arab officer will not tell an ally why he cannot make the decision (or even that he cannot make it), leaving Western officers angry and frustrated because the Arabs won't make a decision. The Arab officers simply will not admit that they do not have that authority.

This lack of initiative makes it difficult for Arab armies to maintain modern weapons. Complex modern weapons require on the spot maintenance, and that means delegating authority, information, and tools. Arab armies avoid doing this and prefer to use easier to control central repair shops (which makes the timely maintenance of weapons difficult). If you can afford it, as the Saudis can, you hire lots of foreign maintenance experts to keep equipment operational. All this is taken for granted inside Saudi Arabia, but looks quite strange to Westerners who encounter it for the first time.

 

[silko]

SA are on its way to be the strongest muslim nation in the world.

fantastic buy here

HAHA HAHAHAHA...... joke of the day!

 

[SpArK]

S Arabia awards $1.7 bln to Raytheon for Patriot upgrade - Brahmand.com

 

[Tshering22]

You know, if Saudi didn't have US to save its neck it would have been a treasure trove for Iranian military to come and simply pocket all these fancy gizmos.

 

[ahsanraza81]

SA investment is a good move