ARAB-(IDB) : Saudi Arabia publicly displayed its Dong Feng-3 (DF-3) ballistic
missiles for the first time in a 29 April parade marking the end of what
was billed as its largest ever military exercise.
The parading of the missiles will be seen as the latest Saudi step to
publicise its ballistic missile capability, which has included media
coverage of the opening of the Strategic Missile Force's new
headquarters in Riyadh in 2010.
The DF-3 (US designation: CSS-2) is a single-stage, liquid-fuel
ballistic missile that was developed by China in the 1960s. It is
estimated to have a range of 2,500 km with a 2,000 kg warhead, but
suffers from poor accuracy.
It was confirmed in March 1988 that China had transferred an
unspecified number of DF-3 missiles with conventional warheads to Saudi
Arabia. The estimates of the number of missiles delivered to the kingdom
range between 30 and 120.
Saudi television footage of the parade at Hafr al-Batin Airbase in
the northeast of the kingdom showed two missiles with DF-3 written on
them in Latin script. The missiles were mounted on the same towed
erector launchers that have been seen in photographs of Chinese DF-3s.
These launchers can only travel on paved surfaces, but provide an
adequate level of mobility for firing from the prepared launch pads at
Saudi ballistic missile bases.
Speculation that Saudi Arabia is in the process of replacing its
DF-3s was fuelled by the circulation of a photograph of Prince Fahd bin
Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Saud visiting the Strategic Missile Force
headquarters in Riyadh during his brief tenure as deputy defence
minister in 2013. The photograph shows senior officers presenting him
with a display case containing models of three missiles, including one
that looks like a DF-3. There has been speculation that one of the other
two missiles in the case is a Chinese DF-25 (CCS-5) with a pointier
nose for a conventional warhead.
In January, a Newsweek story cited an unnamed "well-placed
intelligence source" as saying Saudi Arabia began replacing its DF-3
from 2007, when it bought solid-fuel DF-25 missiles. The source said the
United States approved the transfer after CIA analysts inspected the
missiles and were satisfied that they were not designed to carry nuclear
warheads.
Other weapons and platforms that were not previously known to have
been acquired by Saudi Arabia but which featured in the parade included
Oshkosh Mine Resistance Ambush Protected - All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs)
and M113s that had been upgraded by the Turkish company FNSS into the
M901A TOW anti-tank missile launcher variant.
The parade, marking the end of Exercise 'Saif Abdullah', was attended
by dignitaries from various countries, including the king of Bahrain,
the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the Kuwaiti defence minister, and
Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif.
Saudi Chief of Staff General Hussain al-Qubail stressed the defensive
posture of the Saudi armed forces, saying: "By conducting this
exercise, we are preparing our forces to defend our holy places and our
achievements ... we don't intend to attack anyone because it's not the
kingdom's policy."
Source : Jane's
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