Saudi Arabia In Talks To Purchase Israel's Iron Dome Anti-missile Systems

Saudi Arabia has reportedly shown interest in purchasing Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system, as reported by Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung that the two regimes are working towards normalizing their relations and uniting against Iran.

The newspaper wrote that a "European weapons dealer in the Saudi capital of Riyadh" said the Saudis are examining the purchase of Israeli military goods, including the Israeli Trophy Active Protection System (APS), which was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta Group.

The vehicle-mounted system is capable of intercepting and destroying incoming missiles and rockets with a shotgun-like blast. 

The report also claimed that Riyadh requested Israel to examine the possibility of acquiring an anti-tank defense systems and the Iron Dome anti-missile system, through a third party.

The report further mentioned that Saudi military experts had even examined the Israeli anti-missile system in the United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia is said to have wanted to acquire the system in an attempt to stop missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, the report said.

In November 2017, Chief of Staff of Israeli military, Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, expressed Tel Aviv’s readiness “to exchange experiences with moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence to confront Iran”.

Riyadh and its allies have been bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen since the Houthis seized much of the country’s north in 2015.  

Saudi Arabia is seeking to boost its anti-missile systems arsenal and has also committed last year to purchase the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor to defend against ballistic missile attacks and Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.