Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars acquiring advanced fighter jets, missile defence systems and sophisticated military technology to protect its territory and critical infrastructure. Yet recent missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement, particularly the deadly strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, have exposed the challenges facing the kingdom’s air defences despite decades of extensive military investment.
The attacks have raised questions about the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia’s multilayered air defence network, its ability to intercept simultaneous threats involving different types of weapons, and the military and diplomatic options available to Riyadh as the confrontation with the Houthis continues.
According to the Associated Press, Saudi Arabia possesses one of the world’s most expensive and technologically advanced military arsenals, including American-made combat aircraft, missile defence systems and sophisticated surveillance technology. Nevertheless, the kingdom has struggled to intercept successive waves of missiles and drones launched from Yemen.
The attacks on Saudi airports have resulted in deaths and hundreds of injuries, while forcing schoolchildren and business professionals to remain at home and move their activities online.
The Associated Press also reported that Saudi Arabia is facing shortages of interceptor missiles, prompting the kingdom to seek assistance from its allies as its defensive capabilities come under increasing pressure.
Deadly Attacks on Riyadh Airport Expose Defensive Vulnerabilities
On 10 October, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation reported that a missile had struck a complex housing domestic terminals 3 and 4 at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
The strike killed 12 people and injured more than 300, according to the authority.
Saudi Arabia’s Joint Forces Command attributed responsibility for the attack to the Houthi movement in Yemen.
The following day, another projectile struck the same terminal, killing one person and injuring 11 others, according to Saudi authorities.
Subsequent reports placed the combined death toll at 13 or 14, with approximately 320 people injured.
The attacks were described as the deadliest inside Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, amid reports that the airport had also been targeted in preceding days and that further attacks continued afterwards.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strikes.
On 12 October, Saudi Arabia’s Joint Forces Command announced that its air defence systems had successfully intercepted two ballistic missiles launched towards Riyadh.
The interceptions indicated that Saudi air defences had not ceased functioning altogether. However, the attacks demonstrated that some projectiles were still able to reach their targets during barrages involving different categories of weapons.
The distinction is important: the failure to intercept every incoming missile or drone does not necessarily mean an entire defensive network has collapsed. It does, however, expose the operational limitations of even sophisticated systems when confronted with coordinated attacks.
How the Houthis Are Challenging Saudi Air Defences
Following the attacks, Saudi Arabia launched an investigation into why its air defences had failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones, according to the Associated Press.
The news agency cited two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity and described preliminary findings concerning the methods allegedly used by the Houthis.
According to their account, the attacks began with the launch of multiple drones intended to saturate and disrupt Saudi air defence systems.
These were subsequently followed by a combination of cruise and ballistic missiles.
The apparent objective was to overwhelm the defensive network by presenting several types of aerial threats within a concentrated period, complicating the task of identifying, tracking and intercepting each incoming weapon.
The officials also indicated that some weapons used by the Houthis were equipped with warheads capable of changing direction during flight.
Such manoeuvring capabilities create additional challenges for Patriot missiles and other Saudi interception systems, which must continually track incoming projectiles and calculate effective interception trajectories.
Questions Over Early Warning Systems
The Saudi investigation is also examining why sufficient early warning was not provided despite the projectiles travelling more than 1,000 kilometres from Yemen to Riyadh.
The distance has raised questions about the performance of the kingdom’s surveillance, detection and warning networks, particularly their ability to identify threats early enough to activate a coordinated response.
The reported failure to provide adequate warning is especially relevant because Saudi Arabia’s defensive architecture depends not only on interceptor missiles but also on radars, sensors and communication systems designed to detect and track threats before they approach critical infrastructure.
Andreas Krieg of King’s College London told the Associated Press that the Houthis had gained operational experience confronting Israel’s advanced air defence systems.
According to Krieg, that experience had given the group greater knowledge and confidence in conducting attacks against Saudi Arabia.
“They have learned how to saturate radars,” he said.
His assessment suggests that the Houthis’ previous military encounters have contributed to the development of tactics intended to challenge sophisticated defensive networks, rather than relying exclusively on individual missile strikes.
Saudi Arabia’s Geography Makes Comprehensive Air Defence Difficult
The challenges facing Saudi Arabia extend beyond the technical characteristics of the weapons used against it.
The kingdom covers approximately 2.2 million square kilometres, making it one of the largest countries in the Middle East.
Its territory contains widely dispersed airports, oil installations, military bases, industrial facilities and other critical infrastructure requiring protection.
Defending such an extensive area against threats arriving from different directions creates substantial operational and logistical difficulties.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in advanced American combat aircraft and missile defence systems, including Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), alongside military equipment purchased from Britain and France.
However, even sophisticated interception systems must be deployed at specific locations, requiring defence planners to determine which cities, installations and strategic facilities receive priority.
The geographical distribution of these assets means that protecting one area does not automatically guarantee equivalent defensive coverage elsewhere.
This problem becomes more complicated when attacks occur simultaneously or originate from multiple directions.
Threats From Yemen, Iran and Iraq
The kingdom faces several potential sources of aerial threats.
Iranian attacks can approach from the east, drones launched by Iraqi armed factions may originate from the north, and the Houthis continue conducting attacks from Yemen to the south.
These different directions place demands on surveillance networks, radar coverage, interception systems and military coordination.
The Houthis’ reported use of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones further complicates the defensive picture.
Each category presents different detection and interception requirements.
Ballistic missiles follow trajectories that differ from those of cruise missiles, while drones may present additional challenges because of their size, flight characteristics and potential use in large numbers.
According to The New York Times, risk-management specialists have warned that even a multilayered defensive network combining Patriot, THAAD, fighter aircraft and other sensors cannot provide an entirely impenetrable shield over a country as large as Saudi Arabia.
The assessment points to a fundamental limitation of air defence: possessing highly advanced technology does not eliminate the difficulty of protecting numerous geographically dispersed targets against sustained, multidirectional attacks.
Saudi Military Spending: Billions Invested in Defence
Saudi Arabia’s difficulties have attracted particular attention because of the extraordinary sums the kingdom has committed to military expenditure and foreign arms acquisitions.
According to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), cited by specialist publications, Saudi military spending reached approximately $80.33 billion in 2024.
That expenditure represented 7.3 per cent of the kingdom’s gross domestic product.
Media reports indicated that military spending subsequently increased to approximately $83 billion in 2025.
The figures place Saudi Arabia among the world’s largest military spenders and reflect the scale of investment directed towards modernising its armed forces.
Yet the recent attacks demonstrate that the relationship between military expenditure and effective protection is not straightforward.
A costly military arsenal may provide substantial defensive capabilities without guaranteeing that every incoming projectile can be intercepted, particularly during complex or sustained attacks.
Saudi Arabia’s Dependence on Foreign Arms Suppliers
SIPRI data illustrates the extent of Saudi Arabia’s dependence on imported military technology.
Between 2015 and 2019, Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest importer of major conventional weapons, accounting for 12 per cent of global arms imports.
During that period, the kingdom’s arms imports increased by 130 per cent compared with 2010 to 2014.
The United States was the kingdom’s dominant supplier, accounting for 73 per cent of Saudi arms imports between 2015 and 2019.
Britain followed with a 13 per cent share.
The predominance of American military equipment continued in subsequent years.
According to SIPRI reports covering the periods 2020 to 2024 and 2021 to 2025, the United States accounted for approximately 74 to 77 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports.
These figures demonstrate that the kingdom’s military modernisation has remained closely connected to foreign suppliers, particularly Washington.
The reliance is especially relevant to air defence, where sophisticated systems require not only initial procurement but also continued access to interceptor missiles, technical support, maintenance and replacement equipment.
Patriot and THAAD: Major American Missile Defence Deals
Saudi Arabia’s relationship with American weapons manufacturers includes some of the largest missile defence procurement arrangements approved by Washington.
In October 2017, the United States authorised a potential $15 billion sale of the THAAD missile defence system to Saudi Arabia.
The proposed package included:
- Seven THAAD batteries.
- 44 launchers.
- 360 interceptor missiles.
- Seven AN/TPY-2 radar systems.
The acquisition was intended to strengthen the kingdom’s ability to defend against ballistic missile threats.
Nearly a decade later, Saudi Arabia continued expanding its missile interception capabilities through additional American arms purchases.
In January 2026, the US State Department approved a potential $9 billion sale involving 730 Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles and associated equipment.
The proposed sale was announced by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
The PAC-3 MSE, or Missile Segment Enhancement, is among the advanced interceptor technologies used in the Patriot air defence system.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest operator of Patriot systems after the United States, according to experts cited in media reports, including Nawaf Obeid of King’s College London.
Despite the size of the kingdom’s Patriot inventory, the recent attacks and reported shortages of interceptors have raised questions about the sustainability of its defensive operations when facing repeated missile and drone barrages.
Further Arms Deals Extend Beyond Missile Defence
Saudi Arabia’s procurement arrangements with Washington are not limited to Patriot and THAAD.
During 2026, American military packages also included support for Saudi F-15 fighter aircraft and precision-guided munitions, with a combined value approaching $20 billion.
The kingdom has also sought to diversify its defensive equipment through purchases from other countries.
These acquisitions include South Korea’s KM-SAM air defence system.
Separately, an investigation published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in 2025 reported that Saudi Arabia had previously concluded an agreement involving sanctioned Russian companies for an air defence system valued at more than €2 billion.
Together, these transactions illustrate the kingdom’s extensive efforts to acquire missile interception, air combat and surveillance capabilities from multiple international suppliers.
However, diversification and high expenditure have not removed the operational challenges associated with defending Saudi territory against different types of aerial attacks.
Why Expensive Defences Cannot Guarantee Full Protection
The attacks have brought attention to a gap between the scale of Saudi Arabia’s military expenditure and the ability of its defensive systems to prevent all incoming weapons from reaching their targets.
Several factors described in the reports contribute to that challenge.
First, the reported use of large numbers of drones followed by cruise and ballistic missiles places considerable pressure on defensive systems that must detect, classify and engage multiple threats.
Second, the ability of some projectiles to manoeuvre during flight complicates interception.
Third, the kingdom’s extensive territory requires defensive resources to be distributed among numerous facilities, rather than concentrated around a single location.
Fourth, Saudi Arabia faces threats originating from different regional directions, increasing the complexity of its overall air defence requirements.
Finally, interceptor shortages create additional difficulties during sustained attacks.
The Associated Press reported that such shortages had already prompted the kingdom to request assistance from allied governments.
These factors suggest that the effectiveness of Saudi air defence cannot be measured simply by the number of advanced weapons purchased or the financial value of its military contracts.
Instead, the reported shortcomings involve the interaction between early warning, detection, interception, geographical coverage and the availability of sufficient defensive resources.
The recent interceptions announced by Saudi authorities also show that defensive systems remain operational, even though some attacks have penetrated them.
Saudi Arabia’s Military and Diplomatic Options
As the Houthi attacks continue, Riyadh is examining its military and diplomatic options against a backdrop of broader regional instability.
Saudi Arabia recently concluded a joint defence pact with Pakistan and Turkey, although both countries have so far remained largely on the sidelines of the latest developments.
The agreement provides an additional dimension to the kingdom’s security relationships, but the extent to which those partners might become involved in the current confrontation remains unclear.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said he is assessing whether the United States should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
He has not announced a final decision.
Washington’s position is therefore an important consideration for Riyadh as it evaluates the possibility of additional military operations aimed at stopping attacks originating from Yemen.
The kingdom must also address the immediate requirements of protecting its airports, oil installations, military bases and other critical infrastructure against further strikes.
The available evidence from the recent attacks points to a continuing challenge for Saudi decision-makers: how to strengthen an already expensive defensive network while confronting weapons designed to complicate or overwhelm its interception capabilities.
At the same time, the possibility of expanded military action must be weighed against diplomatic options for ending Houthi attacks.
With Washington yet to determine whether it will participate directly in Saudi operations against the group, Riyadh faces an unresolved question over the level of military assistance it can expect from its principal arms supplier.
The confrontation has exposed the limits of relying on advanced imported weapons alone to provide comprehensive protection across a vast territory facing multiple regional threats.
For Saudi Arabia, preventing further attacks will require addressing the defensive weaknesses identified in the ongoing investigation while assessing whether military escalation or diplomatic engagement can bring the Houthi campaign to an end.
