LONDON (Dispatches) -- Saudi Arabia has requested its neighbors for interceptor missiles as it struggles to fend off Yemen’s retaliatory attacks, pending U.S. approval of Patriot missile sales, media reported on Sunday.
The Persian Gulf monarchy sources most of its weapons from the United States but a series of issues has led to a thorny approval process.
“There is an interceptor shortage. Saudi Arabia has asked its friends for loans, but there are not many to be had,” the Financial Times quoted a source with the knowledge of talks between Riyadh and its neighbors.
A senior U.S. source told the daily that Washington approved of these negotiations, which they said might be “the faster alternative” to getting interceptors directly from the U.S.
“It’s an urgent situation,” the official said as Yemeni forces ramp up their cross-border retaliatory attacks on the kingdom.
A second person told FT that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman hinted at the issue during a Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh in December and the kingdom subsequently contacted nations in the region directly.
It is not clear if Saudi Arabia’s neighbors have been able to supply it with munitions yet, the report said.
A third U.S. official said Yemeni forces ramped up their retaliatory assaults on the kingdom last year, launching 375 cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia, many of which were aimed at oil infrastructure, airports and cities.
“Responding to those attacks using those kind of interceptors means that they’re going to have a burn rate that is faster than they may have anticipated before,” the official told FT.
“That is something that we have to deal with and the answer to that is not only more interceptors, but the answer to that is ultimately a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Yemen.”
Saudi Arabia has been under a relentless drone-and-rocket retaliatory attack by Yemeni forces since it sent warplanes to bomb their positions as part of its war on the impoverished country.
Earlier, media reports said Saudi Arabia has been hunting for “hundreds more” missile rounds for its Patriot air-defense systems.
Riyadh has also requested to buy an additional AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles to power its fighter jets against Yemeni strikes, they said.
Saudi Arabia’s arsenal of Patriot missiles, which are used to thwart aerial attacks, has depleted significantly.
A swarm of missiles and drones dodged Saudi air defenses in 2019, knocking out half of the kingdom’s oil output temporarily. Yemeni resistance fighters took the responsibility for the strikes, but the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran without any evidence in order to conceal their embarrassment.
According to WSJ, the country was targeted by drones more than 50 times in October and November and was impacted by more than 20 ballistic missiles over the same time period.
The Saudis are also turning to Persian Gulf and European allies to restock their Patriot missile supplies, according to unnamed U.S. sources quoted in the same article. However, the transfer of weaponry to the Saudis would still require U.S. clearance.
“We’re working closely with Saudi Arabia and other partners to make sure there are no coverage gaps,” a senior Biden administration official was quoted as saying.
The situation represents the latest test for U.S.-Saudi relations, which President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to reshape in light of the October 2018 murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives in Istanbul.
In February last year, Biden said he would end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive operations” in Yemen, including “relevant arms sales”.
But several months later, his administration approved a $650 million sale of air-to-air missiles to the kingdom.