Saudi Arabia's $83B Military Struggles to Stop Houthi Attacks

Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia have inflicted severe losses in recent weeks, striking energy infrastructure and civilian airports and killing at least 20 people, according to CBS News. The Iranian-aligned group has hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, and is battling Saudi-backed government forces for control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, a route vital to global energy shipments. The fighting has added further upward pressure to oil and gas prices as Iran and the United States contest the nearby Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi officials regularly announce interceptions of Houthi ballistic missiles and drones, including five destroyed on Wednesday, but many weapons have got through. An Oct. 10 strike killed 13 people at Riyadh's King Khalid Airport, among them a U.S. citizen. Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told CBS News that no country can achieve a perfect interception rate, but described the airport strike as one that should not have been missed.

Saudi Arabia spent $83 billion on defense last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, far more than any other Middle Eastern nation including Israel. Analysts attribute the kingdom's difficulties to geography: Iran lies just across the Persian Gulf from its oil fields, Iran-backed militias operate along its long northern border with Iraq, and it shares a border of more than 800 miles with Yemen, much of it controlled by the Houthis. Thomas Juneau, an associate fellow at Chatham House, told CBS News that defending airports, pipelines, oil facilities, military bases and palaces across such a vast area is extremely difficult, and that even a minority of successful Houthi strikes counts as a win for the rebels.

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have created a global shortage of the interceptors used to down ballistic missiles and other weapons, including the U.S.-made Patriot system fielded by Saudi Arabia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that every country wants Patriot interceptors, calling them probably the most in-demand product in the defense field right now. Tim Cahill, president of missiles and fire control at Lockheed Martin, told CBS News last week that international demand is stronger than ever. Patriots can cost as much as $4 million per unit, and U.S. military data shows Saudi Arabia has purchased 730 of them since 2020.

Analysts say Patriots are not suited to every threat. The Houthis mix relatively cheap drones — some supplied by Iran and some locally made copies — with more destructive missile strikes, according to Allison Minor, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She told CBS News the group uses swarms of inexpensive systems to distract and exhaust defenses before weaving in catastrophic missile attacks. Dent added that Houthi drones and cruise missiles can alter trajectory, making them harder to track and potentially opening gaps in Saudi Arabia's layered air defense.

One proposed remedy is Ukrainian-developed drone interceptors, which cost thousands of dollars each and are produced in the tens of thousands annually, compared with Patriots that are built in the hundreds. Saudi Arabia and some neighbors have struck deals with Ukraine for such systems, but Dent cautioned they are not a quick fix because they demand skilled operators and training. CBS News national security analyst Aaron MacLean said the kingdom's forces have a reputation for being structured around the interests of royal leadership, and that money alone cannot substitute for a culture of readiness. Saudi Arabia has invoked a mutual defense pact signed last year with Pakistan and Turkey; Pakistan has confirmed a troop deployment, Turkey is working toward sending forces, and France recently agreed to... Neither Saudi nor Houthi authorities responded to CBS News' request for comment.