Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Saudi Arabia has displayed intermediate-range ballistic missiles procured from China nearly 30 years ago and maintained with Pakistani assistance.

The Saudi military exhibited the CSS-2 missiles, designed to strike targets at a distance of up to 2,650 kilometers at a ceremony that ended the Abdullah Sword exercise on April 29.

The liquid-fuel CSS-2, which could contain a nuclear warhead, was said to have been procured in 1987 from China over the objections of the United States.

This marked the first time the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom unveiled CSS-2. The missiles were said to have been maintained by Pakistan, a leading ally of Riyad and Beijing.

The military parade was held at Hafr Baten and contained several CSS-2s. The parade was attended by Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, also the kingdom’s defense minister, as well as King Abdullah’s son, National Guard Minister Prince Mitab. Representatives of all GCC states with the exception of Qatar also attended the ceremony.

Diplomatic sources said the display of CSS-2 marked a decision by the Saudi leadership to increase deterrence. They said the missile was meant to warn both Iran and the United States that Riyad was harboring strategic assets that could compete with Teheran’s missile and nuclear programs.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia was said to have received the Chinese-origin
DF-21, a solid-fuel missile regarded as far more advanced than CSS-2. The
April 29 parade did not include DF-21.

“Both Saudi missile systems could probably be adapted relatively easily
to carry Pakistani nuclear warheads,” Simon Henderson, a leading U.S.
analyst on Saudi Arabia, said.

  CSS-2, DF-21, In first, Iran, Prince Mitab, Prince Salman, Saudis display Chinese ballistic missiles in signal to U.S.