The UK Deploying Radars To Saudi Arabia Isn’t A Big Deal

On November 16th 2020 in an Ministry Of Defence report it was revealed that the UK has deployed Giraffe radars to Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia.

Now this information has gained some traction I want to talk about why this is not as big of a deal as it is being made out to be. While a ban on military exports exists on Saudi Arabia. This deployment is not an export. The radar was not exported as such, yes it is being operated in Saudi Arabia but it has not been sold to the county so it does not breach the export ban.

Another point to be made is that it is being claimed to be deployed to help protect Saudi oil fields. While the Houthi rebels from Iran often target the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia they don’t just exclusively target oil assets. Several times ballistic missiles have been fired towards Riyadh & Jeddah. The deployment of the British radars helps not only to protect valuable infrastructure but also protect infrastructure & areas used by civilians

As the radar system is being introduced to the British Army the opportunity to test it in a real world environment is an opportunity that really can’t be passed up.