The sources said the Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry concluded
that the Royal Saudi Air Force failed to detect and track an estimated 1,500
Shi'ite fighters who penetrated Saudi Arabia in November 2009 during the
rebellion in Yemen. They said the Saudi fleet of U.S.-origin F-15 and
Tornado fighter-jets were forced to fly at high altitudes to avoid the
prospect of Shi'ite rebel surface-to-air missiles.
"The [Saudi] military could not find anybody from the air, and so was
always on the defensive," another Western source said. "The conclusion was
that the Saudis must buy advanced helicopters as soon as possible."
Under a Saudi request to the United States, Riyad would receive more
than 170 attack and utility helicopters. The request included about 100
AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters and a stripped-down variant, Little
Bird, as well as the S-70 utility helicopter. Apache and Little Bird have
been produced by Boeing, with the S-70 manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.
The sources said Washington would equip the helicopters with advanced
air-to-ground munitions, reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems. They
said this would allow Saudi helicopter pilots to fly low to the ground in
search of Yemeni insurgents.
Saudi Arabia has also sought to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles from
the United States, including the advanced Predator combat platform. The
sources said Washington agreed to reconnaissance platforms but not UAVs
that could fire rockets.
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