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| Arabia |
| Why the Saudi Air Force Will Still Suck |
| 2005-11-17 |
| November 17, 2005: Saudi Arabia is out shopping for new warplanes. Since Saudi Arabia has the money to buy the best stuff out there, warplane manufacturers are swarming to the scene. The only aircraft the Saudis won’t be able to get is the U.S. F-22. Too much top secret tech in that puppy. But there’s plenty of other hot iron out there. However, there’s one problem the Saudis are not discussing; training and leadership. The Royal Saudi Air Force has long been something of a very expensive joke to the thousands of Western technicians and managers who keep it running. The Saudis buy the best, but have consistently fallen down when it comes to getting capable and motivated Saudis to run the air force. Pilots are selected more for political and family connections, and loyalty to the monarchy, than ability, as are many of the support staff. As a result, the pilots have never developed much skill, and the ground crews are backed up (replaced, for all practical purposes), by thousands of expatriates from the United States, Britain and other countries. These foreigners are generally former military, and make big bucks keeping the Saudi aircraft airworthy. But the Saudi generals have not been willing to go the extra mile to recruit and train the most qualified Saudis to run the air force. The loyalty angle is important, especially in that part of the world. But they could at least screen for loyalty first, then ability, and leave family connections out. That, however, is not easy, as the Saudi royal family keeps it all together largely via good relationships with the more powerful clans and tribes in the kingdom. Giving up control over all those sexy air force jobs is asking a lot for a royal family that is locked in a death struggle with popular Islamic fanatics (who want to oust the royal family.) So the Saudis may get their hot new warplanes, but they will still have a third rate air force. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 Redneck Jim:"Ummm, I don't recall any World War 2 stories about the germans being shitty fighters, or the Japanese." He said:"...dictatorship/theocracy...". It probably would have been less confusing for you had he said theocratic dictatorship. You think? TV-Man |
| Posted by: TV-Man 2005-11-17 15:30 |
| #9 #2: That is the reason most dictatorship/theocracy militaries suck. Loyalty to the state/monarchy/party comes before anything else and the result is piss poor performance from the military. Ummm, I don't recall any World War 2 stories about the germans being shitty fighters, or the Japanese. That's one Dictatorship and one Monarchy against your theory. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-11-17 14:25 |
| #8 The Soodi who got the Iraqis did so guided by a US AWACS, with a flight of US aircraft backing him up. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-11-17 14:06 |
| #7 Have many of those ex-pats who fled after the housing complexes were attacked by Al Qaeda returned? Or have the Phillipino and Indian engineers been promoted? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-11-17 14:02 |
| #6 As one who spent eight months in the Magic Kingdom back in 1992, I can tell you that the above article applies to nearly every aspect of the Saudi economy, i.e., without the ex-pats, the Soddies cannot make it beyond the tent. |
| Posted by: The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-11-17 10:20 |
| #5 ...and Allan knows best. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-11-17 10:09 |
| #4 During Gulf I, a Saudi pilot got two Iraqis in the same dogfight. He was flying an F15. He was also a Bedouin, not one of the Family bunch, considered like a hillbilly. He must have made it by skill. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2005-11-17 09:56 |
| #3 Oh, I was expecting a punchline to a joke. |
| Posted by: Jomoque Ebbeart6983 2005-11-17 09:53 |
| #2 That is the reason most dictatorship/theocracy militaries suck. Loyalty to the state/monarchy/party comes before anything else and the result is piss poor performance from the military. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-11-17 09:40 |
| #1 Regards maintenance, the standard "insh'allah" doesn't generate much confidence in the pilots, lol, so they have to get expats to do the work - or the pilots, who are, indeed, connected with mucho wasta, refuse to fly. The Magic Kingdom is one seriously screwed up place, lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-11-17 09:29 |