#SaudiArabia

Photo Of The Day: TFB’s favorite shots (pun intended), served on a daily basis. We don’t think you have seen today’s selection before. Above you can see U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matthew Grenier, a military working dog handler assigned to the 378th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, as he positions his K9 during live-fire at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2023. The carbine is an M4. Live-fire training with dogs helps acclimatize them to the sound of gunfire and allows them to maintain maximum effectiveness in battlefield scenarios.

Today’s location is the Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We see U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jordan Courtney, 378th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron K9 handler, training with Mirco, her military working dog.

Two thousand twenty-three is here with a bang, and we’re right into the action with the Royal Saudi Special Security Forces and Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Here they perform a daylight exercise alongside 19 Royal Saudi Special Security Forces (SSF/SOF 6), during counter-terrorism training at Fort Campbell, in Kentucky. This happened in December last year.

In the last few years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been going through a drastic transformation. Things that seemed impossible just a few years ago are now a part of daily life for Saudi citizens: women can drive, cinemas are open, music is playing everywhere, and the morality police doesn’t enforce their views of virtue. As a result, Saudi Arabia is slowly becoming more attractive for expats and businessmen from all around the world.

Welcome to TFB’s full auto Photo Of The Day! Shooting full auto is something everyone wants to do, as often as possible. In reality, only a few get to do it, ever. I’ve only shot full auto a few times in the military, and once in the deserts of Nevada.

Subject: Photo Of The Day – Indigo Defender 21

Last year we reported that Saudi Arabia had entered into an agreement with Russian small arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern’s parent company, signing a memorandum between Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Russian Rosoboronexport State Corporation.

According to Russian news agency TASS, as a result of the official visit of King Salman of Saudi Arabia to Russia, a memorandum was signed between Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Russian Rosoboronexport State Corporation. The memorandum is about the purchasing of Russian arms and arranging licensed manufacturing of AK-103 rifles and various types of ammunition in Saudi Arabia.

National defense is serious business. As such, it is important to observe and analyze different country’s training techniques throughout the world in an attempt to learn and better understand our allies and our foes. Late last month, the Saudi Arabian National Guard held training excercises and informational displays for Prince Mutaib, National Guard Minister, and other VIPs. Fortunately, photographers were on hand to cover the event.

Heckler and Koch has won a major victory against the German government this week, regarding the sale of G36 assault rifles to Saudi Arabia. In the mid-2000s, Heckler and Koch sold tooling for the G36 to the Saudi government capable of producing 14,000 rifles per year. However, in 2008 the German government prevented the manufacture of rifles in that country without the exclusive production in Germany of five key components, without which the rifles could not be assembled. The company requested to export 28,000 rifle components and replacement parts to Saudi Arabia in 2013, but the government did not respond, resulting in the lawsuit from Heckler and Koch.

A recent article shows that at least one Canadian made PGW Defense .50 BMG LRT-3 SWS with suppressor is in use with Houthi rebels in Yeman, currently engaged in both a civil war, and a fight with Saudi Arabian armed forces on the border. In addition to the LRT-3, the rebels seem to have gained posession of some other advanced small arms, such as the G36Ks and G36Cs made for export (the internal German version has an additional part on top of the sight that is absent in the export models), in addition to the full length G36 rifles without the optical sight. In one of the pictures coming out of Yemen, they also have a night vision intensifier that mounts to the front of the Schmidt & Bender optic already on the rifle. This probably means that they were able to get their hands on a full issue of the rifle, accessories and all. There is another precision rifle to the right of the LRT-3, which appears to be their .308 “Coyote” variant, with a much more traditional stock, and folding buttstock. You can tell by the fluted barrel, and front mounted picatinny rails for lasers and night image intensifiers. How these rifles came to be used among the rebels is still up to speculation, but seeing that they have all their full issue with them, they were probably sold off by a corrupt official in an illegal arms deal from Saudi Arabia (which uses them), instead of being captured with minimal equipment. We have another picture of an LRT-3 being used in Syria by the Peshmerga, but this was probably directly supplied by the Canadians as a part of the coalition.

Reuters recently released photos of a traditional Saudi dance that involves – of all things – participants jumping up into the air and firing their jezails (a type of muzzleloader from the region) at the ground. This is something that is probably better seen than described: