The SC
ELITE MEMBER

- Joined
- Feb 13, 2012
- Messages
- 32,229
- Reaction score
- 21
- Country
- Location
Gulf Shield wasn’t an ordinary military maneuver on the Saudi eastern coasts – it wasn’t similar to dozens of other maneuvers taking place in the region and other places in the world. It showed a different military dogma.
The drills took one year and a half of preparations, thousands of land, air and maritime forces and strategic weaponry. The four participating countries are classified among the top 10 strongest armies ever. It's one of the biggest military movement plans, worldwide.
Most importantly, the prepared scenario resembled the current threats in the region: booby-trapped frigates, professional military operations, landing on shores, confrontations in sea, as well as simulation of two types of wars, in which regime or militias participate. In the region, militias are many.
Mainly, these military maneuvers were linked to Iran but I don’t think this was the case. Iran is not equal to Saudi Arabia, as said by the Saudi crown prince during his interview with CBS, and its army is not among the five strongest armies in the Islamic world. I find that real armies don’t show off just to send messages to rivals but aim to reinforce their military planning strength, their capability to manage war operations and use of most advanced armament techniques.
These goals fall in line with the statements made by Mohammed bin Salman that the drills are an affirmation of the kingdom's capability to work within a coordinated coalition and a unified military organization to face the regional risks and threats. The threats facing the region are many, whether those coming from regular armies or terrorist militias and groups, which are the greatest risks jeopardizing the region’s stability and security.
Perhaps the major message of this exercise is the presence of a modern methodology in confronting hostile actions that require international coordination and planning.
Indeed, it is not necessary that the 24 countries participate in any further military cooperation, since there are political calculations for each state. What is important is that the participating forces have gained more expertise, especially with the presence of US, French and UK forces that work on strengthening the joint work within coalitions to reinforce security through enhancing capabilities, efficiency and professionalism of participating forces in dealing with threats.
Riyadh is leading these coalitions, as it did in the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen or the Islamic military counter-terrorism coalition.
Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir renewed his country’s stance from dispatching military forces to Syria to fight terrorism, restating that it's not a new idea to send forces to Syria and that the kingdom made a suggestion for the Islamic military counter-terrorism coalition in this regards, before and after suggesting these ideas to Washington.
Despite the former US administration's hesitation in dealing with the Saudi proposal, Riyadh is aware that it has military capabilities of high professionalism and readiness to back its political stance. The kingdom is well aware of its assigned role in leading the region and has military alliances assisting it.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1242776/salman-al-dossary/gulf-shield-more-drill
The drills took one year and a half of preparations, thousands of land, air and maritime forces and strategic weaponry. The four participating countries are classified among the top 10 strongest armies ever. It's one of the biggest military movement plans, worldwide.
Most importantly, the prepared scenario resembled the current threats in the region: booby-trapped frigates, professional military operations, landing on shores, confrontations in sea, as well as simulation of two types of wars, in which regime or militias participate. In the region, militias are many.
Mainly, these military maneuvers were linked to Iran but I don’t think this was the case. Iran is not equal to Saudi Arabia, as said by the Saudi crown prince during his interview with CBS, and its army is not among the five strongest armies in the Islamic world. I find that real armies don’t show off just to send messages to rivals but aim to reinforce their military planning strength, their capability to manage war operations and use of most advanced armament techniques.
These goals fall in line with the statements made by Mohammed bin Salman that the drills are an affirmation of the kingdom's capability to work within a coordinated coalition and a unified military organization to face the regional risks and threats. The threats facing the region are many, whether those coming from regular armies or terrorist militias and groups, which are the greatest risks jeopardizing the region’s stability and security.
Perhaps the major message of this exercise is the presence of a modern methodology in confronting hostile actions that require international coordination and planning.
Indeed, it is not necessary that the 24 countries participate in any further military cooperation, since there are political calculations for each state. What is important is that the participating forces have gained more expertise, especially with the presence of US, French and UK forces that work on strengthening the joint work within coalitions to reinforce security through enhancing capabilities, efficiency and professionalism of participating forces in dealing with threats.
Riyadh is leading these coalitions, as it did in the Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen or the Islamic military counter-terrorism coalition.
Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir renewed his country’s stance from dispatching military forces to Syria to fight terrorism, restating that it's not a new idea to send forces to Syria and that the kingdom made a suggestion for the Islamic military counter-terrorism coalition in this regards, before and after suggesting these ideas to Washington.
Despite the former US administration's hesitation in dealing with the Saudi proposal, Riyadh is aware that it has military capabilities of high professionalism and readiness to back its political stance. The kingdom is well aware of its assigned role in leading the region and has military alliances assisting it.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1242776/salman-al-dossary/gulf-shield-more-drill