Alone Among Allies, Britain Will Dispatch Fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia

As allies of Riyadh shy from aiding Saudi Arabia in its hour of need, an unexpected former global power, the United Kingdom, is stepping into the void, sending fighter jets to the Arabian desert. Riyadh’s defense budget is one of the world’s largest, estimated this year alone at $85.5 billion. So far, though, the Saudi military is proving ill-suited to defend the kingdom as Iranian-allied militias in Yemen and Iraq strike at civilian, military, and petroleum industry targets. A recent deadly strike on the capital’s international airport made headlines across the world.President Trump, meanwhile, signals a determination to end the region’s threat either by negotiating with the Iranian regime, or, more likely, attacking it militarily. A third American aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is expected to arrive in the region sometime in November.On Monday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met in a southern Israeli air base with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Also present in the meeting, reportedly, was an official from the United Arab Emirates. Talking to the press at the White House Tuesday, Mr. Trump declined to specify the purpose of the meeting. In a phone call Monday, foreign ministers Faisal bin Farhan of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the UAE agreed that Gulf countries must unite to end the war in Yemen. The call signaled a possible end to a long-time UAE-Saudi rift over Yemen. Yet for now Abu Dhabi is mostly urging diplomacy, rather than offering military assistance to end the Houthi threat.All of which makes the British help unique and surprising. “The continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable,” the United Kingdom’s defense secretary, Wes Streeting, said in a statement Tuesday. “The targeting of the airport in Riyadh in particular shows the lengths the Houthis are going to escalate the situation in the region. That’s why today I have approved further UK military support.”Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets “will fly defensive air missions to help protect Saudi airspace from drones and missiles,” Mr. Steering said. He made clear, though, that the Typhoons will not be involved in offensive strikes against targets in Yemen or anywhere else outside Saudi territory. London’s new show of willingness to engage in a hot war is far from the heroism displayed by the RAF and other British fighters in conflicts such as World War II. A distinction between defensive and offensive missions, for one, seems hard to maintain. Would a Typhoon pilot refrain from acting if a Houthi anti-aircraft missile strikes at his plane from Yemeni soil?At the same time, Mr. Steering’s announcement could prove a turning point in the war that the Houthis and Iraqi Shiite militias are waging against Saudi Arabia. Riyadh seems at a loss for answers. Its military culture is ill-suited for a war against insurgency, and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s strategy in Yemen is widely seen as erratic and ineffective. The kingdom’s mutual defense alliance with Turkey and Pakistan, known as the Mecca Accord, is slow to materialize. So far Ankara and Islamabad have made speeches, but declined to help militarily. America is in no position even to supply Saudi Arabia with missile defense, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters while visiting India Tuesday, citing a shortage. American-made interceptors are “the best in the world, they work incredibly well, but they’re expensive, they take time to make,” he said, adding that interceptors are deployed at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Airbase, where American jets are stationed. “We’re doing other things to help,” Mr. Rubio said. America reportedly provides intelligence, targeting assistance, and logistical support to the Saudi war against the Houthis. Up to 200 United States advisers and soldiers are also dispatched to Saudi Arabia to assist the war. Mr. Netanyahu, appearing on i24 Tuesday amid a pre-election blitz of television appearances, was shown a Mr. Trump statement in which the president claims that Israel assists the Saudi war against the Houthis. Asked about it, the premier pointedly declined to answer directly and quickly changed the subject. Last week Ha’aretz reported that the Saudi ruler, known colloquially as MbS, rejected an Israeli offer to join the military campaign against the Houthis despite American attempts to mediate cooperation between the countries.

Alone Among Allies, Britain Will Dispatch Fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia

Alone Among Allies, Britain Will Dispatch Fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia

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