Dear Members and Friends,
In the heat of summer on the Arabian Peninsula, MDAA had the honor for the first time to recognize excellence in air and missile defense from each member country of the Gulf Cooperation Council-Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. MDAA hosted the recognition event on Thursday last week in Abu Dhabi, UAE. All six GCC nations cooperate annually in joint exercises alongside the United States to better understand and become more aware of the complex air and space picture over the Arabian Gulf, a picture which distinguishes threats from friendlies and allows for the most effective employment of joint U.S.-GCC air and missile defenses. The team buildup of air and missile defense capabilities is driven by the common threat to all of the GCC: the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran’s growing ballistic and cruise missile inventory, continued ballistic missile testing and direct and active support of Yemeni rebels-providing short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) to Houthi rebels in Yemen that are being launched into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-has gotten the undivided attention of all six GCC nations. All six of the GCC countries have Patriot air defense batteries deployed and active on their territory, four of the six GCC countries have bought their own Patriot systems and one possesses the newest air and missile defense system in the world, THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense), deployed in their country.
In five of the six GCC states, the United States has U.S. Patriot batteries from Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina deployed in permanent rotation. Additionally, the United States has a forward-deployed TYP-2 radar in one GCC country and a Navy base in another, enabling U.S. Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense destroyers to be continuously deployed in the Arabian Gulf. Over the past two years, two GCC countries, both manning U.S.-made Patriot units with their own forces, are actively shooting down Iranian-provided SRBMs launched from Yemen into Saudi Arabia. The tremendous amount of air and missile defense inventory in the GCC is continuing to grow exponentially in direct response to Iran’s ballistic missile build up.
Playing as a complete team with these six countries and sharing the common air picture together will deconflict the Iranian missile threat and delegate the best GCC shooters for the region in accordance with the air and missile threat. Doing this will both deter Iranian missile use and defend the entire Arabian Gulf region. With U.S. assistance and support, one of the six GCC nations can lead an effort to create and operationalize a regional Air Operations Center (AOC) with each of the six nations on council and command. This AOC would share information regarding the common air picture amongst the GCC nations as they deconflict the airspace, providing the security of that information to each individual GCC nation. NATO in Europe, consisting of 28 member countries, plays as a team and deploys a regional AOC in Germany that is fully active and integrated for the ballistic missile defense of the European region against the threat of Iran.
Today, there is a tremendous challenge for the GCC as sharing of the U.S. air picture through its communication apparatus called “link 16” is nonexistent due to concern of cyber attack from outside sources. With this incomplete air picture, terminal area point defense systems-such as the Patriot for high valued assets in the GCC-must act autonomously and independently to shoot down only what they see and identify through their limited terminal defense radars rather than best coordinate and layer with other systems and increase shot efficiency. If these GCC missile defense systems are better integrated, a coordinated and layered missile defense architecture can be established in the GCC, thus force multiplying missile defense in the region and establishing a much better defense for the GCC against Iran.
In 1991, the first ever combat missile defense intercepts took place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the U.S. 11th Brigade and their modified Patriot air defense units, and today, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using their own Patriot units in Saudi Arabia to shoot down ballistic missiles in combat. Combat use of missile defense is a reality today, saving millions of lives in Saudi Arabia. Let the United States help provide their AOC expertise to interconnect the respective GCC air and missile defense resources across all six GCC countries with a regional AOC in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to force multiply their capabilities and best protect the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf-with a population of over 50 million people-from Iran’s growing ballistic missile arsenal.
We were extremely honored to recognize each of the GCC countries in their excellence and team movement in air and missile defense against Iran. This marks 16 different U.S. partners and allies that MDAA has had the honor to recognize around the world in their excellence of making the world a safer place.
“Unity is power.”
اتَّكَلْنا منه على خُصٍّ الاتحاد قوة
