Typhoons. Air Defense Air Defense was part of the Army until 1981 when it was made a separate service. It operates "Peace Shield" a state-of-the-art radar and air defense system consisting of a Command Operations Center at Riyadh, and main operating bases at Dhahran, Taif, Tabuk, Khamis Mushait and Al Kharj. The total system includes 164 sites. The system equipment comprises 17 General Electric AN/FPS-117 long-range 3D radars, 6 Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-43 tactical radars, and Raytheon Improved HAWK air defense missile system. Strategic Missile Force The Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Forces (RSSMF) is equipped with the Chinese DF-3A (CSS-2) Dongfeng missile sold to Saudi Arabia by China. A conventional high-explosive warhead (2150 kg) variant of the DongFeng 3A Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile was developed for an export order to Saudi Arabia in 1987. About 30+ missiles and 9~12 launchers were reportedly delivered in 1988, though no known test launch has ever been made in the country. The Strategical Missile Forces is top secret, so there is no open information concerning the budget and personnel. Probably it is separate branch officially called Strategic Missile Forces (guessing by its website URL http://www.smf.gov.sa/). But RSSMF certainly has one advanced Al-Watah ballistic missile base (found on the satellite images) in the rocky central part of Saudi Arabia, some 200 km south-west of the capital city Riyadh. Two other bases include Al Sulayyil ballistic missile base (the older base located 450 km southwest of Riyadh) and Al Jufayr base (placed 90 km south of Riyadh) share many similarities, suggesting that they share the same role. Armed Forces Medical Service Armed Forces Medical Service of Saudi Arabia provides medical services to all members of the Armed Forces. It is led by a Director General and is responsible for 24 military hospitals across Saudi Arabia. The service operates aero lift operations with its own fleet of aircraft: Lockheed Martin VC-130H flying hospital Bell 212 helicopter Aerospatile Dolphin 365N helicopter Sikorsky UH60 Desert Hawk helicopter Learjet Gulfstream G3 Gulfstream G4 Gulfstream G5 Major military operations Grand Mosque seizure In 1979, Islamic extremists took control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The extremists were led by Juhayman Al Otaiba and held many worshippers hostage for weeks. With the help of Pakistani and Western troops, the Saudi military captured the terrorists inside the Grand Mosque. Gulf War When Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia immediately requested