What are the potential impacts of Saudi Arabia shooting down a scud on our overall national defense posture?

2015-06-06T02:35:09-04:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/06/us-yemen-security-saudi-iduskbn0OM05T20150606?irpc=932

Scud missile fired at Saudi Arabia as 38 Yemenis reported killed

Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its army allies fired a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia which the kingdom said it shot down on Saturday, in a major escalation of two months of war.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jun 6 at 2015 2:42 AM

2015-06-06T02:42:56-04:00

I hope they were using our Patriot missiles.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2015 2:50 AM

2015-06-06T02:50:51-04:00

That's what we sold them Patriot for.

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Jun 6 at 2015 2:53 AM

2015-06-06T02:53:09-04:00

Brace yourselves, gas price increases are coming...

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2015 3:51 AM

2015-06-06T03:51:08-04:00

It looks like some of our 'partners' in the region are climbing to the same levels of air & missile defense as the U.S... Which means they'll need the U.S. less... Which is no good for our long term presence in the region

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2015 8:59 AM

2015-06-06T08:59:58-04:00

Seeing how they are using the missile defense system for what it's used for, I don't think that is what we should be focusing on. The bigger concern is the fact that acids are once again flying in a region we are supposed to have air superiority in. If there is a return to more long range weapons like this, we have to look at the implications it has for the AMD units we already have in the region and exactly how safe they are if missile start flying in from both directions. All it takes is one miscalculation before a scud aimed at Saudi is hitting UAE or Kuwait. This may cause our current standing units to shift and restart the process of setting up site to posture towards much more active threats. It's going to cause a lot of problems down the road if this kind of activities continue.

Response by SSG Michael Cunningham made Jun 6 at 2015 10:05 AM

2015-06-06T10:05:03-04:00

Really? I worked there for 27 months from 96 to 98, I did not know they were that ADVANCED.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2015 1:14 PM

2015-06-06T13:14:21-04:00

This was a big concern or question when I was stationed in Saudi back in 02. The concern was would the Saudi ADA units be prepared and properly trained to act upon a possible TBM threat. For so many years Patriot ADA units have and still do provide the first line of ADA coverage in countries such as Saudi, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain and in my opinion, I always felt that we were doing these countries a dis-service because they weren't being held accountable to protect their own skies and assests. Maybe, things have changed.

Response by COL Ted Mc made Jun 7 at 2015 12:36 PM

2015-06-07T12:36:51-04:00

The SCUD is (essentially) an up-graded WWII "V-2" missile.

It's good to see that the Saudi's managed to shoot one down.

It's not so good to see that the "Houthis" managed to launch one (an aspect of the situation which everyone appears to be ignoring).

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Oct 15 at 2015 2:33 PM

2015-10-15T14:33:50-04:00

I'm an idiot. I thought Patriots were air to air.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 9:40 AM

2015-10-27T09:40:45-04:00

inconsequential, they are about to buy a set of LCSs with TBMD capabilities so that means US jobs and money.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2016 11:22 PM

2016-03-08T23:22:52-05:00

Who knows. Maybe the US will just have to send another 100 million towards Palestine and Hamas. We might as well fund the Iranian army and their hate America day too. I see no other solution to the complex security environment...