UK Reportedly Deployed Contingent of Troops to Saudi Arabia to Protect Oil Fields

The military operation was reportedly launched in February 2020, five months after the September 2019 attack on two major Saudi oil facilities by Yemen’s Houthi militia, which temporarily wiped out about half of the kingdom’s oil output.

Gunners from the British Army’s 16th Regiment Royal Artillery were quietly deployed to oil fields in Saudi Arabia earlier this year to protect the black gold against possible drone strikes, The Independent has reported, citing a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.

    “Following the attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s oil production facilities on 14 September 2019, we have worked with the Saudi Ministry of Defence and wider international partners to consider how to strengthen the defence of its critical economic infrastructure from aerial threats,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not reveal “exact timescales or the numbers of personnel involved,” citing “operational security”, but did confirm that the British contribution included sending an ‘advanced military radar system’ to help with the detection of incoming drone attacks.

Defence Minister James Heappey confirmed to the newspaper that the radars deployed were Giraffes, a Swedish-made family of radar surveillance and air defence command and control systems designed for operating alongside medium- and short-range air defence missiles and guns.