UK military officers give targeting training to Saudi military

Senior British military officers are providing targeting training to Saudi forces, including for cruise missile attacks, despite the kingdom’s airstrikes on neighbouring Yemen provoking an international outcry over civilian casualties.

The extent of the assistance to Saudi units from the Ministry of Defence has emerged from freedom of information (FoI) requests made by the human rights organisation Reprieve, which is urging the British government to reconsider providing military support.

The MoD has consistently maintained that British personnel are not involved in directing strikes, selecting targets or conducting operations in Yemen, but the latest revelations demonstrate how close the cooperation has been.

There have been three courses in “international targeting”, each lasting three weeks, for members of the Royal Saudi air force, the MoD has disclosed. A seven-strong army artillery detachment has also visited Saudi Arabia to advise land forces on targeting and “weapons-locating radar”.

The cruise missile courses delivered by RAF “weaponeers” relate to the deployment of Storm Shadow, an air-launched explosive device designed to destroy buried enemy command centres. Reprieve is concerned that the military courses may not contain advice on obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid killing civilians.

Saudi Arabia launched its first attacks on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are Shia Muslims, in March 2015. Since then, the conflict is believed to have killed more than 2,800 civilians, including at least 700 children, many of them in airstrikes. Over the same period, the UK has licensed sales of £2.8bn of weaponry to Saudi Arabia. Parliament’s committee on arms export controls is investigating that commercial relationship. 

The FoI response came from the MoD’s operations directorate, Middle East and Near East, Arabian peninsula and the Levant. It showed that a variety of courses had been provided for Saudi pilots and soldiers since the country intervened in Yemen.

The MoD explained: “There are up to 20 Royal Saudi air force students on each course … Each three-week course consists of approximately 90 hours of training.

“These courses have been delivered by a team of three: a Sqn Ldr – OC targets training; a Flt Lt – targets specialist; and an MoD civilian C1 – air warfare centre operational analyst: weapons and weaponeering specialist. Secondly, a seven-man short term training team visited Saudi Arabia to provide field artillery and weapons locating radar (WLR) training to the Royal Saudi land force (RSLF).