WW1 to Houthis: British jets for Saudi Arabia build on long military bond

The UK’s deployment of jets to defend Saudi Arabia is the latest chapter in a military relationship older than the kingdom itself.

An RAF Typhoon aircraft, seen here being prepared for operations across the Middle East, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus [Sgt Lee Goddard/ Handout/MoD Crown Copyright via Getty]

The United Kingdom has announced it will deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to help defend Saudi Arabia from missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, the armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God).

The jets will play a “defensive role”, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that they will not carry out attacks against the Iranian-backed armed group.

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The move comes amid heavy fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have carried out missile and drone attacks against the kingdom, including oil facilities and Riyadh’s main airport , while the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government has launched air attacks on Houthi positions.

The UK’s decision to send jets to assist Saudi Arabia marks just the latest chapter in a partnership that stretches back more than a century, to a treaty signed during the First World War, years before the Saudi kingdom was founded.

So what is the UK sending, and how did the two countries become so closely bound?

Here’s what you need to know:

What is the UK sending?

Fighter jets, an A400M transport aircraft and advisers.

The ministry said it was also extending air-to-air refuelling , which it previously agreed to provide for Saudi air operations, including those to degrade Houthi military targets in Yemen.

How far back does the UK-Saudi relationship go?

To the First World War.

In December 1915, Sir Percy Cox, a senior British official in the Gulf, concluded the Treaty of Darin with King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, then ruler of Nejd in central Arabia, according to India Office records held by the UK’s National Archives.

In return, he allied with Britain against the Ottoman Empire, and Britain backed him with cash and weapons.

In May 1927, Britain signed a new treaty with him at Jeddah, according to an India Office memorandum.

King Abdulaziz founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

When did UK-Saudi arms deals begin?

In May 1966, Saudi Arabia signed contracts to buy 40 Lightning fighter jets and 25 jet trainers from the British Aircraft Corporation, along with a radar system, according to a US Department of State memo from the time.

Even then, Yemen was part of the picture.

In 1962, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen was overthrown in a military coup and the Yemen Arab Republic was established. Egypt sent troops to back the republican government, while Saudi Arabia and Jordan armed and funded royalist forces trying to restore the Imam. By 1966, the civil war had reached a stalemate.

Meanwhile, Britain was facing rebellion from Soviet- and Egypt-backed nationalist groups over its control of Aden and southern Yemen. Britain ultimately withdrew in 1967.

In 1966, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, Prince Sultan, asked the UK to supply an RAF fighter squadron to fly under Saudi colours if fighting resumed in Yemen, according to declassified US State Department records.

Britain instead offered fighter jets flown by British pilots, and said it was ready to send an RAF squadron of Lightning interceptors for a short period if required.

In the end, Saudi Arabia accepted the jets and civilian pilots, and the RAF squadron was not needed, the records show.

BAE Systems, then the British Aircraft Corporation, says its ties with Saudi Arabia date back to 1966, and in 1973, the two governments signed a memorandum of understanding naming the company as prime contractor.

1980s and the Al-Yamamah deal

In 1985, the two governments signed an oil-for-arms agreement, known as Al-Yamamah, for Tornado and Hawk jets.

The Reuters news agency has described the Al-Yamamah deals as the largest export contracts in British history.

Saudi Arabia set aside up to 600,000 barrels of oil a day to pay for Tornado jets and other equipment.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office investigated corruption allegations linked to the deal from 2004, but dropped the inquiry in December 2006, according to a House of Lords judgement.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, cited the need to safeguard national security.

Has Britain fought from Saudi soil before?

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia asked friendly governments for help.

On August 11, 12 RAF Tornado fighters flew from Akrotiri in Cyprus to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, according to the RAF Museum.

Further RAF Tornado detachments were set up at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia in October 1990, and at Dhahran in January 1991, the museum’s records show.

During the war, then-Defence Secretary Tom King told Parliament that Saudi Arabia had provided the UK with host-nation support.

He also reported that a Tornado based in the kingdom had gone missing, the fourth lost in enemy action.

British aircraft then patrolled a no-fly zone over southern Iraq, alongside United States and French jets, flying from Saudi bases until 2003, according to the US Air Force.

Where do the Typhoons come in?

In September 2007, Saudi Arabia agreed to buy 72 Typhoons from Britain, the UK MoD said at the time. The jets were to replace Tornadoes and other aircraft in the Saudi air force.

The deal was worth 4.43 billion pounds (then about $8.9bn).

BAE Systems, which builds the jets, called it the Salam Project.

Further RAF Tornado detachments were set up at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia in October 1990 and at Dhahran in January 1991.

In March 2018, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to London, the UK signed a memorandum of intent with Saudi Arabia to finalise the purchase of 48 more Typhoons, BAE Systems said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

But the deal stalled.

Germany, which helps build the Typhoon and has a veto over its exports, halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi , a columnist for The Washington Post who wrote critically of the crown prince and his policies, in 2018.

Berlin dropped its objection in January 2024, with then-Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying the Middle East had become a completely different place since October 7, 2023, when southern Israel was attacked by Hamas and Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza .

BAE said that year it was supporting the UK government in discussions with Saudi Arabia.

In June 2019, five years after the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, triggering a brutal civil war, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that the government had acted unlawfully by licensing arms sales to Saudi Arabia for possible use in Yemen without assessing whether past incidents had breached international humanitarian law.

New licences were halted. In July 2020, then-Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Parliament they would resume, saying there was not a clear risk the arms would be used in a serious violation of the law.

The UK has also struck the Houthis directly. RAF Typhoons joined US attacks on Yemen in 2024 following Houthi attacks on Israel-linked Red Sea shipping in response to the bombardment of Gaza, according to the MoD.

Then, in September this year, Britain sent a Voyager tanker to assist Saudi Arabia with air-to-air refuelling of fighter jets. The planes it refuels are British-built Typhoons flown by the Saudi air force.

英国向沙特阿拉伯派遣战机进行防御，这是两国军事关系中的最新篇章，而这种军事关系的历史甚至比沙特阿拉伯王国本身还要悠久。

图中这架英国皇家空军台风战斗机正在塞浦路斯阿克罗蒂里皇家空军基地进行中东地区作战前的准备工作。[李·戈达德中士/英国国防部版权所有，经由盖蒂图片社提供]

英国宣布将部署皇家空军台风战斗机，帮助沙特阿拉伯抵御也门胡塞武装（又称安萨尔真主，阿拉伯语意为“真主的支持者”）的导弹和无人机袭击。

英国国防部周二在一份声明中表示，这些战机将发挥“防御作用”，并补充说，它们不会对伊朗支持的武装组织发动袭击。

列表 1/4：英国指责伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队发动空军基地事件后，伊朗方面认为伊朗正在进行“伪旗行动”。

英国情报局长称伊朗正在加大对军事基地的袭击力度（共4条，此为第2条）

英国将部署台风战斗机帮助沙特阿拉伯抵御胡塞武装袭击（共4项，此为第3项）

英国警方再次逮捕两名涉嫌协助伊朗情报部门的男子（共4起，此为第4起）

此举正值胡塞武装与也门国际社会承认的、由沙特阿拉伯支持的政府之间爆发激烈战斗之际。

最近几周，胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯王国发动了导弹和无人机袭击，目标包括石油设施和利雅得的主要机场；与此同时，支持也门政府的沙特领导的联军对胡塞武装阵地发动了空袭。

英国决定派遣战机协助沙特阿拉伯，这标志着两国长达一个多世纪的伙伴关系又翻开了新的一页。两国早在第一次世界大战期间就签署了条约，当时沙特王国尚未建立。

那么英国向其他国家输送了什么？两国又是如何建立起如此紧密的联系的？

以下是您需要了解的内容：

英国在发送什么？

战斗机、A400M运输机和顾问。

该部表示，还将扩大空中加油范围，此前该部已同意为沙特阿拉伯的空中行动提供空中加油，包括削弱也门胡塞武装军事目标的行动。

英国与沙特阿拉伯的关系可以追溯到多久以前？

第一次世界大战。

据英国国家档案馆保存的印度事务部记录显示，1915 年 12 月，英国驻海湾高级官员珀西·考克斯爵士与当时阿拉伯中部内志的统治者阿卜杜勒阿齐兹·伊本·沙特国王签订了《达林条约》。

作为回报，他与英国结盟对抗奥斯曼帝国，英国则向他提供资金和武器支持。

根据印度事务部的一份备忘录，1927 年 5 月，英国在吉达与他签署了一项新条约。

阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王于1932年建立了沙特阿拉伯王国。

英国与沙特阿拉伯的军火交易始于何时？

据美国国务院当时的一份备忘录显示，1966 年 5 月，沙特阿拉伯与英国飞机公司签订合同，购买 40 架闪电战斗机和 25 架喷气式教练机，以及一套雷达系统。

即使在那时，也门也是其中的一部分。

1962年，也门穆塔瓦基利王国在军事政变中被推翻，也门阿拉伯共和国成立。埃及派遣军队支持共和国政府，而沙特阿拉伯和约旦则武装并资助保皇派势力，试图恢复伊玛目的统治。到1966年，内战陷入僵局。

与此同时，英国因其对亚丁和也门南部的控制权而面临来自苏联和埃及支持的民族主义团体的反抗。英国最终于1967年撤军。

根据美国国务院解密的文件显示，1966年，沙特阿拉伯国防大臣苏尔坦亲王请求英国提供一个皇家空军战斗机中队，以便在也门战事重燃时以沙特国旗飞行。

英国则提出派遣由英国飞行员驾驶的战斗机，并表示如有需要，随时准备派遣一个皇家空军中队的闪电式拦截机短期支援。

记录显示，最终沙特阿拉伯接受了这些战机和民用飞行员，英国皇家空军中队也就没有必要了。

英国飞机公司（当时名为 BAE Systems）表示，该公司与沙特阿拉伯的关系可以追溯到 1966 年，1973 年，两国政府签署了一份谅解备忘录，指定该公司为主要承包商。

1980年代与亚玛玛协议

1985年，两国政府签署了一项石油换武器协议，即《亚玛玛协议》，以换取“旋风”和“鹰”式战斗机。

路透社报道称，Al-Yamamah 的交易是英国历史上最大的出口合同。

沙特阿拉伯每天拨出高达 60 万桶石油用于购买“旋风”战斗机和其他设备。

根据上议院的一项判决，英国严重欺诈办公室从 2004 年开始调查与该交易相关的腐败指控，但在 2006 年 12 月终止了调查。

司法部长戈德史密斯勋爵援引了维护国家安全的必要性。

英国以前是否曾在沙特阿拉伯领土上作战？

1990年8月伊拉克入侵科威特时，沙特阿拉伯国王法赫德向友好国家政府寻求帮助。

据英国皇家空军博物馆称，8月11日，12架英国皇家空军“旋风”战斗机从塞浦路斯阿克罗蒂里飞往沙特阿拉伯达兰。

博物馆的记录显示，1990 年 10 月，英国皇家空军在沙特阿拉伯的塔布克设立了更多“旋风”战斗机分遣队；1991 年 1 月，又在达兰设立了分遣队。

战争期间，时任国防大臣汤姆·金向议会表示，沙特阿拉伯为英国提供了东道国支持。

他还报告说，一架驻扎在该国的“旋风”战斗机失踪了，这是第四架在敌方行动中损失的“旋风”战斗机。

据美国空军称，英国飞机随后与美国和法国的喷气式飞机一起，从沙特阿拉伯的基地起飞，在伊拉克南部的禁飞区巡逻，直到 2003 年。

台风又扮演什么角色呢？

2007年9月，沙特阿拉伯同意从英国购买72架“台风”战斗机，英国国防部当时表示。这些战机将取代沙特空军的“旋风”战斗机和其他一些飞机。

这笔交易价值 44.3 亿英镑（当时约合 89 亿美元）。

制造这些喷气式飞机的英国航空航天系统公司（BAE Systems）将其称为“萨拉姆计划”。

1990 年 10 月，英国皇家空军在沙特阿拉伯塔布克设立了更多“旋风”战斗机分遣队；1991 年 1 月，又在达兰设立了更多“旋风”战斗机分遣队。

英国航空航天系统公司（BAE Systems）在提交给伦敦证券交易所的一份声明中表示，2018 年 3 月，在沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼访问伦敦期间，英国与沙特阿拉伯签署了一份意向备忘录，以最终确定再购买 48 架台风战斗机。

但交易陷入僵局。

德国帮助建造了“台风”导弹系统，并对其出口拥有否决权。2018 年，沙特记者贾迈勒·卡舒吉（Jamal Khashoggi）遇害后，德国停止了对沙特阿拉伯的武器销售。卡舒吉是《华盛顿邮报》的专栏作家，曾撰文批评沙特王储及其政策。

柏林于 2024 年 1 月放弃了反对意见，当时的外交部长安娜莱娜·贝尔伯克表示，自 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯袭击以色列南部，以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争以来，中东已经发生了彻底的变化。

英国航空航天系统公司（BAE）当年表示，该公司正在支持英国政府与沙特阿拉伯进行磋商。

2019 年 6 月，在胡塞武装占领也门首都萨那并引发残酷内战五年后，英国上诉法院裁定，政府在未评估过去事件是否违反国际人道主义法的情况下，向沙特阿拉伯出售武器以供其可能在也门使用，此举属于非法行为。

新的许可证发放被暂停。2020年7月，时任贸易大臣利兹·特拉斯向议会表示，许可证发放将恢复，理由是这些武器没有明显的风险会被用于严重违反法律的行为。

英国也曾直接打击胡塞武装。据英国国防部称，在胡塞武装袭击与以色列有关的红海航运，以报复加沙地带遭到轰炸后，英国皇家空军的台风战斗机于2024年加入了美国对也门的空袭行动。

今年9月，英国派遣一架“旅行者”加油机协助沙特阿拉伯为其战斗机进行空中加油。接受加油的飞机是沙特空军装备的英国制造的“台风”战斗机。